diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 8993c0c..beaabdb 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
 
+    HADOOP-10020. Disable symlinks temporarily (branch-2.1-beta only change)
+    (sanjay via suresh)
+
   NEW FEATURES
 
     HDFS-4817.  Make HDFS advisory caching configurable on a per-file basis.
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileContext.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileContext.java
index 2794403..3361f36 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileContext.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileContext.java
@@ -1339,11 +1339,15 @@
    *           <code>target</code> or <code>link</code> is not supported
    * @throws IOException If an I/O error occurred
    */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
   public void createSymlink(final Path target, final Path link,
       final boolean createParent) throws AccessControlException,
       FileAlreadyExistsException, FileNotFoundException,
       ParentNotDirectoryException, UnsupportedFileSystemException, 
       IOException { 
+    if (!FileSystem.isSymlinksEnabled()) {
+      throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Symlinks not supported");
+    }
     final Path nonRelLink = fixRelativePart(link);
     new FSLinkResolver<Void>() {
       @Override
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileSystem.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileSystem.java
index 2eeaf87..06bfacd 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileSystem.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileSystem.java
@@ -2807,4 +2807,24 @@
                          ": " + pair.getValue());
     }
   }
+  
+  // Symlinks are temporarily disabled - see Hadoop-10020
+  private static boolean symlinkEnabled = false;
+  private static Configuration conf = null;
+  
+  @Deprecated
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  public static boolean isSymlinksEnabled() {
+    if (conf == null) {
+      Configuration conf = new Configuration();
+      symlinkEnabled = conf.getBoolean("test.SymlinkEnabledForTesting", false); 
+    }
+    return symlinkEnabled;
+  }
+  
+  @Deprecated
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  public static void enableSymlinks() {
+    symlinkEnabled = true;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/resources/core-site.xml b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/resources/core-site.xml
index 6053363..06f022f 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/resources/core-site.xml
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/resources/core-site.xml
@@ -78,4 +78,9 @@
   <name>nfs3.mountd.port</name>
   <value>4272</value>
 </property>
+
+<property>
+  <name>test.SymlinkEnabledForTesting</name>
+  <value>true</value>
+</property>
 </configuration>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DistributedFileSystem.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DistributedFileSystem.java
index 5b692ab..bb8d25d2 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DistributedFileSystem.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DistributedFileSystem.java
@@ -1118,12 +1118,16 @@
     }.resolve(this, absF);
   }
 
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
   @Override
   public void createSymlink(final Path target, final Path link,
       final boolean createParent) throws AccessControlException,
       FileAlreadyExistsException, FileNotFoundException,
       ParentNotDirectoryException, UnsupportedFileSystemException, 
       IOException {
+    if (!FileSystem.isSymlinksEnabled()) {
+      throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Symlinks not supported");
+    }
     statistics.incrementWriteOps(1);
     final Path absF = fixRelativePart(link);
     new FileSystemLinkResolver<Void>() {
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLogLoader.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLogLoader.java
index 3ffe65a..0904e72 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLogLoader.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLogLoader.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceStability;
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.Block;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.HdfsConstants;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.HdfsFileStatus;
@@ -501,6 +502,9 @@
       break;
     }
     case OP_SYMLINK: {
+      if (!FileSystem.isSymlinksEnabled()) {
+        throw new IOException("Symlinks not supported - please remove symlink before upgrading to this version of HDFS");
+      }
       SymlinkOp symlinkOp = (SymlinkOp)op;
       inodeId = getAndUpdateLastInodeId(symlinkOp.inodeId, logVersion,
           lastInodeId);
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImageFormat.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImageFormat.java
index 74f5219..48753c4 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImageFormat.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImageFormat.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceStability;
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.PathIsNotDirectoryException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.UnresolvedLinkException;
@@ -627,6 +628,7 @@
    * @param counter Counter to increment for namenode startup progress
    * @return an inode
    */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
   INode loadINode(final byte[] localName, boolean isSnapshotINode,
       DataInput in, Counter counter) throws IOException {
     final int imgVersion = getLayoutVersion();
@@ -724,6 +726,9 @@
           : dir;
     } else if (numBlocks == -2) {
       //symlink
+      if (!FileSystem.isSymlinksEnabled()) {
+        throw new IOException("Symlinks not supported - please remove symlink before upgrading to this version of HDFS");
+      }
 
       final String symlink = Text.readString(in);
       final PermissionStatus permissions = PermissionStatus.read(in);
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
index de21820..856312f 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.CreateFlag;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileAlreadyExistsException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileStatus;
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FsServerDefaults;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.InvalidPathException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Options;
@@ -1769,9 +1770,13 @@
   /**
    * Create a symbolic link.
    */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
   void createSymlink(String target, String link,
       PermissionStatus dirPerms, boolean createParent) 
       throws IOException, UnresolvedLinkException {
+    if (!FileSystem.isSymlinksEnabled()) {
+      throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Symlinks not supported");
+    }
     if (!DFSUtil.isValidName(link)) {
       throw new InvalidPathException("Invalid link name: " + link);
     }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/resources/hdfs-site.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/resources/hdfs-site.xml
index cd13532..404f68e 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/resources/hdfs-site.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/resources/hdfs-site.xml
@@ -31,4 +31,8 @@
     <value>0</value>
   </property>
 
+ <property>
+   <name>test.SymlinkEnabledForTesting</name>
+   <value>true</value>
+ </property>
 </configuration>