diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
index d53e7484e7..5b577562e5 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -377,6 +377,9 @@ Release 2.6.0 - UNRELEASED
 
     MAPREDUCE-6093. minor distcp doc edits (Charles Lamb via aw)
 
+    MAPREDUCE-5831. Make MR client ignore unknown counters received from AM.
+    (Junping Du via zjshen)
+
 Release 2.5.1 - 2014-09-05
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/TypeConverter.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/TypeConverter.java
index 6b4aa4ed1e..553ba707a0 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/TypeConverter.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/TypeConverter.java
@@ -241,7 +241,10 @@ public static org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Counters fromYarn(
         org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Counter c =
           counters.findCounter(yGrp.getName(),
               yCntr.getName());
-        c.setValue(yCntr.getValue());
+        // if c can be found, or it will be skipped.
+        if (c != null) {
+          c.setValue(yCntr.getValue());
+        }
       }
     }
     return counters;
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/counters/FileSystemCounterGroup.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/counters/FileSystemCounterGroup.java
index b1b67969cf..a53b76a3c4 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/counters/FileSystemCounterGroup.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/counters/FileSystemCounterGroup.java
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.Iterators;
 import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
 
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience.Private;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.WritableUtils;
@@ -53,6 +55,8 @@ public abstract class FileSystemCounterGroup<C extends Counter>
 
   static final int MAX_NUM_SCHEMES = 100; // intern/sanity check
   static final ConcurrentMap<String, String> schemes = Maps.newConcurrentMap();
+  
+  private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(FileSystemCounterGroup.class);
 
   // C[] would need Array.newInstance which requires a Class<C> reference.
   // Just a few local casts probably worth not having to carry it around.
@@ -159,13 +163,17 @@ public void addCounter(C counter) {
     else {
       ours = findCounter(counter.getName());
     }
-    ours.setValue(counter.getValue());
+    if (ours != null) {
+      ours.setValue(counter.getValue());
+    }
   }
 
   @Override
   public C addCounter(String name, String displayName, long value) {
     C counter = findCounter(name);
-    counter.setValue(value);
+    if (counter != null) {
+      counter.setValue(value);
+    }
     return counter;
   }
 
@@ -192,13 +200,14 @@ public C findCounter(String counterName, boolean create) {
     }
     catch (Exception e) {
       if (create) throw new IllegalArgumentException(e);
+      LOG.warn(counterName + " is not a recognized counter.");
       return null;
     }
   }
 
   @Override
   public C findCounter(String counterName) {
-    return findCounter(counterName, true);
+    return findCounter(counterName, false);
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/counters/FrameworkCounterGroup.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/counters/FrameworkCounterGroup.java
index 5ebed5a731..e78fe2e637 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/counters/FrameworkCounterGroup.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/counters/FrameworkCounterGroup.java
@@ -151,13 +151,21 @@ private T valueOf(String name) {
   @Override
   public void addCounter(C counter) {
     C ours = findCounter(counter.getName());
-    ours.setValue(counter.getValue());
+    if (ours != null) {
+      ours.setValue(counter.getValue());
+    } else {
+      LOG.warn(counter.getName() + "is not a known counter.");
+    }
   }
 
   @Override
   public C addCounter(String name, String displayName, long value) {
     C counter = findCounter(name);
-    counter.setValue(value);
+    if (counter != null) {
+      counter.setValue(value);
+    } else {
+      LOG.warn(name + "is not a known counter.");
+    }
     return counter;
   }
 
@@ -179,7 +187,13 @@ public C findCounter(String counterName, boolean create) {
 
   @Override
   public C findCounter(String counterName) {
-    return findCounter(valueOf(counterName));
+    try {
+      T enumValue = valueOf(counterName);
+      return findCounter(enumValue);
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+      LOG.warn(counterName + " is not a recognized counter.");
+      return null;
+    }
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -208,13 +222,15 @@ public int size() {
   }
 
   @Override
-  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+  @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
   public void incrAllCounters(CounterGroupBase<C> other) {
     if (checkNotNull(other, "other counter group")
         instanceof FrameworkCounterGroup<?, ?>) {
       for (Counter counter : other) {
-        findCounter(((FrameworkCounter) counter).key.name())
-            .increment(counter.getValue());
+        C c = findCounter(((FrameworkCounter) counter).key.name());
+        if (c != null) {
+          c.increment(counter.getValue());
+        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/TestCounters.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/TestCounters.java
index c23e48ea8a..46e7221a83 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/TestCounters.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/TestCounters.java
@@ -33,9 +33,12 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.Counters.Counter;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.Counters.CountersExceededException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.Counters.Group;
+import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.Counters.GroupFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.FileSystemCounter;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.JobCounter;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.TaskCounter;
+import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.counters.FrameworkCounterGroup;
+import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.counters.CounterGroupFactory.FrameworkGroupFactory;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 /**
@@ -321,4 +324,55 @@ private void shouldThrow(Class<? extends Exception> ecls, Runnable runnable) {
   public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
     new TestCounters().testCounters();
   }
+  
+  @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
+  @Test
+  public void testFrameworkCounter() {
+    GroupFactory groupFactory = new GroupFactoryForTest();
+    FrameworkGroupFactory frameworkGroupFactory = 
+        groupFactory.newFrameworkGroupFactory(JobCounter.class);
+    Group group = (Group) frameworkGroupFactory.newGroup("JobCounter");
+    
+    FrameworkCounterGroup counterGroup = 
+        (FrameworkCounterGroup) group.getUnderlyingGroup();
+  
+    org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Counter count1 = 
+        counterGroup.findCounter(JobCounter.NUM_FAILED_MAPS.toString());
+    Assert.assertNotNull(count1);
+    
+    // Verify no exception get thrown when finding an unknown counter
+    org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Counter count2 = 
+        counterGroup.findCounter("Unknown");
+    Assert.assertNull(count2);
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testFilesystemCounter() {
+    GroupFactory groupFactory = new GroupFactoryForTest();
+    Group fsGroup = groupFactory.newFileSystemGroup();
+  
+    org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Counter count1 = 
+        fsGroup.findCounter("ANY_BYTES_READ");
+    Assert.assertNotNull(count1);
+    
+    // Verify no exception get thrown when finding an unknown counter
+    org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Counter count2 = 
+        fsGroup.findCounter("Unknown");
+    Assert.assertNull(count2);
+  }
+  
 }
+
+  class GroupFactoryForTest extends GroupFactory {
+    public <T extends Enum<T>>
+        FrameworkGroupFactory<Group> newFrameworkGroupFactory(final Class<T> cls) {
+      return super.newFrameworkGroupFactory(cls);
+    }
+    
+    public Group newFileSystemGroup() {
+      return super.newFileSystemGroup();
+    }
+    
+  }
+
+