diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 0c54ac873d..65376479f2 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -393,6 +393,9 @@ Release 2.4.0 - UNRELEASED
 
     HADOOP-10346. Deadlock while logging tokens (jlowe)
 
+    HADOOP-10328. loadGenerator exit code is not reliable.
+    (Haohui Mai via cnauroth)
+
 Release 2.3.1 - UNRELEASED
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/loadGenerator/LoadGenerator.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/loadGenerator/LoadGenerator.java
index 7490be80af..fcdcc1d9bf 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/loadGenerator/LoadGenerator.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/loadGenerator/LoadGenerator.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import java.net.InetAddress;
 import java.net.UnknownHostException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.EnumSet;
 import java.util.Random;
 
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileContext;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Options.CreateOpts;
+import org.apache.hadoop.io.IOUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.Time;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.Tool;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.ToolRunner;
@@ -137,11 +139,15 @@ public class LoadGenerator extends Configured implements Tool {
     "-startTime <startTimeInMillis>\n" +
     "-scriptFile <filename>";
   final private String hostname;
-  
+  private final byte[] WRITE_CONTENTS = new byte[4096];
+
+  private static final int ERR_TEST_FAILED = 2;
+
   /** Constructor */
   public LoadGenerator() throws IOException, UnknownHostException {
     InetAddress addr = InetAddress.getLocalHost();
     hostname = addr.getHostName();
+    Arrays.fill(WRITE_CONTENTS, (byte) 'a');
   }
 
   private final static int OPEN = 0;
@@ -178,7 +184,8 @@ private class DFSClientThread extends Thread {
     private long [] executionTime = new long[TOTAL_OP_TYPES];
     private long [] totalNumOfOps = new long[TOTAL_OP_TYPES];
     private byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
-    
+    private boolean failed;
+
     private DFSClientThread(int id) {
       this.id = id;
     }
@@ -196,6 +203,7 @@ public void run() {
       } catch (Exception ioe) {
         System.err.println(ioe.getLocalizedMessage());
         ioe.printStackTrace();
+        failed = true;
       }
     }
     
@@ -272,6 +280,35 @@ private void list() throws IOException {
       executionTime[LIST] += (Time.now()-startTime);
       totalNumOfOps[LIST]++;
     }
+
+    /** Create a file with a length of <code>fileSize</code>.
+     * The file is filled with 'a'.
+     */
+    private void genFile(Path file, long fileSize) throws IOException {
+      long startTime = Time.now();
+      FSDataOutputStream out = null;
+      try {
+        out = fc.create(file,
+            EnumSet.of(CreateFlag.CREATE, CreateFlag.OVERWRITE),
+            CreateOpts.createParent(), CreateOpts.bufferSize(4096),
+            CreateOpts.repFac((short) 3));
+        executionTime[CREATE] += (Time.now() - startTime);
+        totalNumOfOps[CREATE]++;
+
+        long i = fileSize;
+        while (i > 0) {
+          long s = Math.min(fileSize, WRITE_CONTENTS.length);
+          out.write(WRITE_CONTENTS, 0, (int) s);
+          i -= s;
+        }
+
+        startTime = Time.now();
+        executionTime[WRITE_CLOSE] += (Time.now() - startTime);
+        totalNumOfOps[WRITE_CLOSE]++;
+      } finally {
+        IOUtils.cleanup(LOG, out);
+      }
+    }
   }
   
   /** Main function:
@@ -319,13 +356,21 @@ public int run(String[] args) throws Exception {
     if(LOG.isDebugEnabled()) {
       LOG.debug("Done with testing.  Waiting for threads to finish.");
     }
+
+    boolean failed = false;
     for (DFSClientThread thread : threads) {
       thread.join();
       for (int i=0; i<TOTAL_OP_TYPES; i++) {
         executionTime[i] += thread.executionTime[i];
         totalNumOfOps[i] += thread.totalNumOfOps[i];
       }
+      failed = failed || thread.failed;
     }
+
+    if (failed) {
+      exitCode = -ERR_TEST_FAILED;
+    }
+
     long totalOps = 0;
     for (int i=0; i<TOTAL_OP_TYPES; i++) {
       totalOps += totalNumOfOps[i];
@@ -462,50 +507,50 @@ private int loadScriptFile(String filename) throws IOException  {
     
     String line;
     // Read script, parse values, build array of duration, read and write probs
-    while((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
+
+    while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
       lineNum++;
-      if(line.startsWith("#") || line.isEmpty()) // skip comments and blanks
+      if (line.startsWith("#") || line.isEmpty()) // skip comments and blanks
         continue;
-      
+
       String[] a = line.split("\\s");
-      if(a.length != 3) {
-        System.err.println("Line " + lineNum + 
-                           ": Incorrect number of parameters: " + line);
+      if (a.length != 3) {
+        System.err.println("Line " + lineNum
+            + ": Incorrect number of parameters: " + line);
       }
-      
+
       try {
         long d = Long.parseLong(a[0]);
-        if(d < 0) { 
-           System.err.println("Line " + lineNum + ": Invalid duration: " + d);
-           return -1;
+        if (d < 0) {
+          System.err.println("Line " + lineNum + ": Invalid duration: " + d);
+          return -1;
         }
 
         double r = Double.parseDouble(a[1]);
-        if(r < 0.0 || r > 1.0 ) {
-           System.err.println("Line " + lineNum + 
-                      ": The read probability must be [0, 1]: " + r);
-           return -1;
-        }
-        
-        double w = Double.parseDouble(a[2]);
-        if(w < 0.0 || w > 1.0) {
-          System.err.println("Line " + lineNum + 
-                       ": The read probability must be [0, 1]: " + r);
+        if (r < 0.0 || r > 1.0) {
+          System.err.println("Line " + lineNum
+              + ": The read probability must be [0, 1]: " + r);
           return -1;
         }
-        
+
+        double w = Double.parseDouble(a[2]);
+        if (w < 0.0 || w > 1.0) {
+          System.err.println("Line " + lineNum
+              + ": The read probability must be [0, 1]: " + r);
+          return -1;
+        }
+
         readProb.add(r);
         duration.add(d);
         writeProb.add(w);
-      } catch( NumberFormatException nfe) {
+      } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
         System.err.println(lineNum + ": Can't parse: " + line);
         return -1;
+      } finally {
+        IOUtils.cleanup(LOG, br);
       }
     }
     
-    br.close();
-    fr.close();
-    
     // Copy vectors to arrays of values, to avoid autoboxing overhead later
     durations = new long[duration.size()];
     readProbs = new double[readProb.size()];
@@ -581,27 +626,6 @@ private void barrier() {
       }
     }
   }
-
-  /** Create a file with a length of <code>fileSize</code>.
-   * The file is filled with 'a'.
-   */
-  private void genFile(Path file, long fileSize) throws IOException {
-    long startTime = Time.now();
-    FSDataOutputStream out = fc.create(file,
-        EnumSet.of(CreateFlag.CREATE, CreateFlag.OVERWRITE),
-        CreateOpts.createParent(), CreateOpts.bufferSize(4096),
-        CreateOpts.repFac((short) 3));
-    executionTime[CREATE] += (Time.now()-startTime);
-    totalNumOfOps[CREATE]++;
-
-    for (long i=0; i<fileSize; i++) {
-      out.writeByte('a');
-    }
-    startTime = Time.now();
-    out.close();
-    executionTime[WRITE_CLOSE] += (Time.now()-startTime);
-    totalNumOfOps[WRITE_CLOSE]++;
-  }
   
   /** Main program
    *