diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 88ea20d4f3..927e424572 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -261,6 +261,9 @@ Release 2.0.0 - UNRELEASED
     HADOOP-8086. KerberosName silently sets defaultRealm to "" if the 
     Kerberos config is not found, it should log a WARN (tucu)
 
+    HADOOP-8280. Move VersionUtil/TestVersionUtil and GenericTestUtils from
+    HDFS into Common. (Ahmed Radwan via atm)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
   BUG FIXES
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/VersionUtil.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/VersionUtil.java
similarity index 99%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/VersionUtil.java
rename to hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/VersionUtil.java
index 59aa5e128e..dd68c4d74b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/VersionUtil.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/VersionUtil.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-package org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util;
+package org.apache.hadoop.util;
 
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/test/GenericTestUtils.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/test/GenericTestUtils.java
similarity index 100%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/test/GenericTestUtils.java
rename to hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/test/GenericTestUtils.java
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestVersionUtil.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/TestVersionUtil.java
similarity index 96%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestVersionUtil.java
rename to hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/TestVersionUtil.java
index c2537fd515..b5b1ebf3de 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestVersionUtil.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/TestVersionUtil.java
@@ -15,11 +15,12 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-package org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util;
+package org.apache.hadoop.util;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.test.GenericTestUtils;
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionUtil;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 public class TestVersionUtil {
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BPServiceActor.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BPServiceActor.java
index f5d09b1fef..f018f53e73 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BPServiceActor.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BPServiceActor.java
@@ -48,11 +48,11 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageBlockReport;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageReceivedDeletedBlocks;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageReport;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util.VersionUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.IOUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ipc.RemoteException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionInfo;
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionUtil;
 
 import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
 import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java
index 4c891d3d4d..af3dd16d76 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java
@@ -108,7 +108,6 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageReceivedDeletedBlocks;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageReport;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.UpgradeCommand;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util.VersionUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.EnumSetWritable;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.Text;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ipc.ProtobufRpcEngine;
@@ -124,6 +123,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.security.token.SecretManager.InvalidToken;
 import org.apache.hadoop.security.token.Token;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionInfo;
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionUtil;
 
 import com.google.protobuf.BlockingService;