diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index 2c18ba304d..6096ec3159 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -842,6 +842,9 @@ Release 0.23.0 - 2011-11-01
     HDFS-2521. Remove custom checksum headers from data transfer protocol
     (todd)
 
+    HDFS-2308. NamenodeProtocol.endCheckpoint is vestigial and can be removed.
+    (eli)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
     HDFS-1458. Improve checkpoint performance by avoiding unnecessary image
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImage.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImage.java
index a6af3eb8e8..4cfb014dd5 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImage.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImage.java
@@ -998,18 +998,12 @@ else if(bnReg.getLayoutVersion() < storage.getLayoutVersion()
   /**
    * End checkpoint.
    * <p>
-   * Rename uploaded checkpoint to the new image;
-   * purge old edits file;
-   * rename edits.new to edits;
-   * redirect edit log streams to the new edits;
-   * update checkpoint time if the remote node is a checkpoint only node.
+   * Validate the current storage info with the given signature.
    * 
-   * @param sig
-   * @param remoteNNRole
-   * @throws IOException
+   * @param sig to validate the current storage info against
+   * @throws IOException if the checkpoint fields are inconsistent
    */
-  void endCheckpoint(CheckpointSignature sig,
-                     NamenodeRole remoteNNRole) throws IOException {
+  void endCheckpoint(CheckpointSignature sig) throws IOException {
     sig.validateStorageInfo(this);
   }
 
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 dd7802f7d6..0a42d48039 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
@@ -3493,15 +3493,15 @@ NamenodeCommand startCheckpoint(
 
   void endCheckpoint(NamenodeRegistration registration,
                             CheckpointSignature sig) throws IOException {
-    writeLock();
+    readLock();
     try {
       if (isInSafeMode()) {
         throw new SafeModeException("Checkpoint not ended", safeMode);
       }
       LOG.info("End checkpoint for " + registration.getAddress());
-      getFSImage().endCheckpoint(sig, registration.getRole());
+      getFSImage().endCheckpoint(sig);
     } finally {
-      writeUnlock();
+      readUnlock();
     }
   }