diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index ced13ce358..5fbbd5513c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -329,6 +329,9 @@ Release 2.5.0 - UNRELEASED
     HDFS-6210. Support GETACLSTATUS operation in WebImageViewer.
     (Akira Ajisaka via wheat9)
 
+    HDFS-6269. NameNode Audit Log should differentiate between webHDFS open and
+    HDFS open. (Eric Payne via jeagles)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
     HDFS-6214. Webhdfs has poor throughput for files >2GB (daryn)
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 16b356468a..b2ec8f9cdc 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
@@ -7760,6 +7760,8 @@ public void logAuditEvent(boolean succeeded, String userName,
           }
           sb.append(trackingId);
         }
+        sb.append("\t").append("proto=");
+        sb.append(NamenodeWebHdfsMethods.isWebHdfsInvocation() ? "webhdfs" : "rpc");
         logAuditMessage(sb.toString());
       }
     }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestAuditLogs.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestAuditLogs.java
index 94950caa5b..98297ca91c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestAuditLogs.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestAuditLogs.java
@@ -91,6 +91,9 @@ public TestAuditLogs(boolean useAsyncLog) {
       "perm=.*?");
   static final Pattern successPattern = Pattern.compile(
       ".*allowed=true.*");
+  static final Pattern webOpenPattern = Pattern.compile(
+      ".*cmd=open.*proto=webhdfs.*");
+
   static final String username = "bob";
   static final String[] groups = { "group1" };
   static final String fileName = "/srcdat";
@@ -240,6 +243,22 @@ public void testAuditWebHdfsDenied() throws Exception {
     verifyAuditLogsRepeat(false, 2);
   }
 
+  /** test that open via webhdfs puts proper entry in audit log */
+  @Test
+  public void testAuditWebHdfsOpen() throws Exception {
+    final Path file = new Path(fnames[0]);
+
+    fs.setPermission(file, new FsPermission((short)0644));
+    fs.setOwner(file, "root", null);
+
+    setupAuditLogs();
+
+    WebHdfsFileSystem webfs = WebHdfsTestUtil.getWebHdfsFileSystemAs(userGroupInfo, conf, WebHdfsFileSystem.SCHEME);
+    webfs.open(file);
+
+    verifyAuditLogsCheckPattern(true, 3, webOpenPattern);
+  }
+
   /** Sets up log4j logger for auditlogs */
   private void setupAuditLogs() throws IOException {
     Logger logger = ((Log4JLogger) FSNamesystem.auditLog).getLogger();
@@ -303,4 +322,38 @@ private void verifyAuditLogsRepeat(boolean expectSuccess, int ndupe)
       reader.close();
     }
   }
+
+  // Ensure audit log has exactly N entries
+  private void verifyAuditLogsCheckPattern(boolean expectSuccess, int ndupe, Pattern pattern)
+      throws IOException {
+    // Turn off the logs
+    Logger logger = ((Log4JLogger) FSNamesystem.auditLog).getLogger();
+    logger.setLevel(Level.OFF);
+
+    // Close the appenders and force all logs to be flushed
+    Enumeration<?> appenders = logger.getAllAppenders();
+    while (appenders.hasMoreElements()) {
+      Appender appender = (Appender)appenders.nextElement();
+      appender.close();
+    }
+
+    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(auditLogFile));
+    String line = null;
+    boolean ret = true;
+    boolean patternMatches = false;
+
+    try {
+        for (int i = 0; i < ndupe; i++) {
+          line = reader.readLine();
+          assertNotNull(line);
+          patternMatches |= pattern.matcher(line).matches();
+          ret &= successPattern.matcher(line).matches();
+        }
+        assertNull("Unexpected event in audit log", reader.readLine());
+        assertTrue("Expected audit event not found in audit log", patternMatches);
+        assertTrue("Expected success=" + expectSuccess, ret == expectSuccess);
+      } finally {
+        reader.close();
+      }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestFsck.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestFsck.java
index 5a0c3559da..b1ecc52b4c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestFsck.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestFsck.java
@@ -99,13 +99,13 @@ public class TestFsck {
       "ugi=.*?\\s" + 
       "ip=/\\d{1,3}\\.\\d{1,3}\\.\\d{1,3}\\.\\d{1,3}\\s" + 
       "cmd=fsck\\ssrc=\\/\\sdst=null\\s" + 
-      "perm=null");
+      "perm=null\\s" + "proto=.*");
   static final Pattern getfileinfoPattern = Pattern.compile(
       "allowed=.*?\\s" +
       "ugi=.*?\\s" + 
       "ip=/\\d{1,3}\\.\\d{1,3}\\.\\d{1,3}\\.\\d{1,3}\\s" + 
       "cmd=getfileinfo\\ssrc=\\/\\sdst=null\\s" + 
-      "perm=null");
+      "perm=null\\s" + "proto=.*");
   
   static final Pattern numCorruptBlocksPattern = Pattern.compile(
       ".*Corrupt blocks:\t\t([0123456789]*).*");