diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
index 491277dd27..7d8439534a 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -277,6 +277,9 @@ Release 2.4.0 - UNRELEASED
     YARN-1527. Fix yarn rmadmin command to print the correct usage info.
     (Akira AJISAKA via jianhe)
 
+    YARN-1522. Fixed a race condition in the test TestApplicationCleanup that was
+    causing it to randomly fail. (Liyin Liang via vinodkv)
+
 Release 2.3.0 - UNRELEASED
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestApplicationCleanup.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestApplicationCleanup.java
index 5eecae0987..75bb225d4e 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestApplicationCleanup.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestApplicationCleanup.java
@@ -100,26 +100,32 @@ public class TestApplicationCleanup {
     //currently only containers are cleaned via this
     //AM container is cleaned via container launcher
     resp = nm1.nodeHeartbeat(true);
-    List<ContainerId> contsToClean = resp.getContainersToCleanup();
-    List<ApplicationId> apps = resp.getApplicationsToCleanup();
-    int cleanedConts = contsToClean.size();
-    int cleanedApps = apps.size();
+    List<ContainerId> containersToCleanup = resp.getContainersToCleanup();
+    List<ApplicationId> appsToCleanup = resp.getApplicationsToCleanup();
+    int numCleanedContainers = containersToCleanup.size();
+    int numCleanedApps = appsToCleanup.size();
     waitCount = 0;
-    while ((cleanedConts < 2 || cleanedApps < 1) && waitCount++ < 200) {
+    while ((numCleanedContainers < 2 || numCleanedApps < 1)
+        && waitCount++ < 200) {
       LOG.info("Waiting to get cleanup events.. cleanedConts: "
-          + cleanedConts + " cleanedApps: " + cleanedApps);
+          + numCleanedContainers + " cleanedApps: " + numCleanedApps);
       Thread.sleep(100);
       resp = nm1.nodeHeartbeat(true);
-      contsToClean = resp.getContainersToCleanup();
-      apps = resp.getApplicationsToCleanup();
-      cleanedConts += contsToClean.size();
-      cleanedApps += apps.size();
+      List<ContainerId> deltaContainersToCleanup =
+          resp.getContainersToCleanup();
+      List<ApplicationId> deltaAppsToCleanup = resp.getApplicationsToCleanup();
+      // Add the deltas to the global list
+      containersToCleanup.addAll(deltaContainersToCleanup);
+      appsToCleanup.addAll(deltaAppsToCleanup);
+      // Update counts now
+      numCleanedContainers = containersToCleanup.size();
+      numCleanedApps = appsToCleanup.size();
     }
     
-    Assert.assertEquals(1, apps.size());
-    Assert.assertEquals(app.getApplicationId(), apps.get(0));
-    Assert.assertEquals(1, cleanedApps);
-    Assert.assertEquals(2, cleanedConts);
+    Assert.assertEquals(1, appsToCleanup.size());
+    Assert.assertEquals(app.getApplicationId(), appsToCleanup.get(0));
+    Assert.assertEquals(1, numCleanedApps);
+    Assert.assertEquals(2, numCleanedContainers);
 
     rm.stop();
   }