diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index 6b53e88a9c..806064470f 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ Trunk (Unreleased)
 
     HDFS-8349. Remove .xml and documentation references to dfs.webhdfs.enabled.
     (Ray Chiang via aajisaka)
+
+    HDFS-8241. Remove unused NameNode startup option -finalize.
+    (Brahma Reddy Battula via aajisaka)
  
   NEW FEATURES
 
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/common/HdfsServerConstants.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/common/HdfsServerConstants.java
index 31af6c8169..c664b01afd 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/common/HdfsServerConstants.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/common/HdfsServerConstants.java
@@ -155,7 +155,6 @@ enum StartupOption{
     CHECKPOINT("-checkpoint"),
     UPGRADE ("-upgrade"),
     ROLLBACK("-rollback"),
-    FINALIZE("-finalize"),
     ROLLINGUPGRADE("-rollingUpgrade"),
     IMPORT  ("-importCheckpoint"),
     BOOTSTRAPSTANDBY("-bootstrapStandby"),
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
index 979378aa84..1c1032bfbf 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
@@ -262,7 +262,6 @@ public static enum OperationCategory {
       + StartupOption.ROLLBACK.getName() + "] | \n\t["
       + StartupOption.ROLLINGUPGRADE.getName() + " "
       + RollingUpgradeStartupOption.getAllOptionString() + " ] | \n\t["
-      + StartupOption.FINALIZE.getName() + "] | \n\t["
       + StartupOption.IMPORT.getName() + "] | \n\t["
       + StartupOption.INITIALIZESHAREDEDITS.getName() + "] | \n\t["
       + StartupOption.BOOTSTRAPSTANDBY.getName() + "] | \n\t["
@@ -778,8 +777,6 @@ private void stopHttpServer() {
    * metadata</li>
    * <li>{@link StartupOption#ROLLBACK ROLLBACK} - roll the  
    *            cluster back to the previous state</li>
-   * <li>{@link StartupOption#FINALIZE FINALIZE} - finalize 
-   *            previous upgrade</li>
    * <li>{@link StartupOption#IMPORT IMPORT} - import checkpoint</li>
    * </ul>
    * The option is passed via configuration field: 
@@ -1306,8 +1303,6 @@ static StartupOption parseArguments(String args[]) {
         startOpt.setRollingUpgradeStartupOption(args[i]);
       } else if (StartupOption.ROLLBACK.getName().equalsIgnoreCase(cmd)) {
         startOpt = StartupOption.ROLLBACK;
-      } else if (StartupOption.FINALIZE.getName().equalsIgnoreCase(cmd)) {
-        startOpt = StartupOption.FINALIZE;
       } else if (StartupOption.IMPORT.getName().equalsIgnoreCase(cmd)) {
         startOpt = StartupOption.IMPORT;
       } else if (StartupOption.BOOTSTRAPSTANDBY.getName().equalsIgnoreCase(cmd)) {
@@ -1442,13 +1437,6 @@ public static NameNode createNameNode(String argv[], Configuration conf)
         terminate(0);
         return null;
       }
-      case FINALIZE: {
-        System.err.println("Use of the argument '" + StartupOption.FINALIZE +
-            "' is no longer supported. To finalize an upgrade, start the NN " +
-            " and then run `hdfs dfsadmin -finalizeUpgrade'");
-        terminate(1);
-        return null; // avoid javac warning
-      }
       case ROLLBACK: {
         boolean aborted = doRollback(conf, true);
         terminate(aborted ? 1 : 0);
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/site/markdown/HDFSCommands.md b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/site/markdown/HDFSCommands.md
index 534d63a162..2ceff89fa6 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/site/markdown/HDFSCommands.md
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/site/markdown/HDFSCommands.md
@@ -416,7 +416,6 @@ Usage:
               [-upgradeOnly [-clusterid cid] [-renameReserved<k-v pairs>] ] |
               [-rollback] |
               [-rollingUpgrade <rollback |started> ] |
-              [-finalize] |
               [-importCheckpoint] |
               [-initializeSharedEdits] |
               [-bootstrapStandby] |
@@ -432,14 +431,13 @@ Usage:
 | `-upgradeOnly` `[-clusterid cid]` [`-renameReserved` \<k-v pairs\>] | Upgrade the specified NameNode and then shutdown it. |
 | `-rollback` | Rollback the NameNode to the previous version. This should be used after stopping the cluster and distributing the old Hadoop version. |
 | `-rollingUpgrade` \<rollback\|started\> | See [Rolling Upgrade document](./HdfsRollingUpgrade.html#NameNode_Startup_Options) for the detail. |
-| `-finalize` | No longer supported. Use `dfsadmin -finalizeUpgrade` instead. |
 | `-importCheckpoint` | Loads image from a checkpoint directory and save it into the current one. Checkpoint dir is read from property fs.checkpoint.dir |
 | `-initializeSharedEdits` | Format a new shared edits dir and copy in enough edit log segments so that the standby NameNode can start up. |
 | `-bootstrapStandby` | Allows the standby NameNode's storage directories to be bootstrapped by copying the latest namespace snapshot from the active NameNode. This is used when first configuring an HA cluster. |
 | `-recover` `[-force]` | Recover lost metadata on a corrupt filesystem. See [HDFS User Guide](./HdfsUserGuide.html#Recovery_Mode) for the detail. |
 | `-metadataVersion` | Verify that configured directories exist, then print the metadata versions of the software and the image. |
 
-Runs the namenode. More info about the upgrade, rollback and finalize is at [Upgrade Rollback](./HdfsUserGuide.html#Upgrade_and_Rollback).
+Runs the namenode. More info about the upgrade and rollback is at [Upgrade Rollback](./HdfsUserGuide.html#Upgrade_and_Rollback).
 
 ### `nfs3`
 
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/TestHdfsServerConstants.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/TestHdfsServerConstants.java
index 0f24c05856..0d359d8520 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/TestHdfsServerConstants.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/TestHdfsServerConstants.java
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ public void testStartupOptionParsing() {
     verifyStartupOptionResult("CHECKPOINT", StartupOption.CHECKPOINT, null);
     verifyStartupOptionResult("UPGRADE", StartupOption.UPGRADE, null);
     verifyStartupOptionResult("ROLLBACK", StartupOption.ROLLBACK, null);
-    verifyStartupOptionResult("FINALIZE", StartupOption.FINALIZE, null);
     verifyStartupOptionResult("ROLLINGUPGRADE", StartupOption.ROLLINGUPGRADE, null);
     verifyStartupOptionResult("IMPORT", StartupOption.IMPORT, null);
     verifyStartupOptionResult("INITIALIZESHAREDEDITS", StartupOption.INITIALIZESHAREDEDITS, null);