diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/GenericOptionsParser.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/GenericOptionsParser.java
index 17ce730aef..8a06b1f73f 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/GenericOptionsParser.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/GenericOptionsParser.java
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ public CommandLine getCommandLine() {
    * Specify properties of each generic option
    */
   @SuppressWarnings("static-access")
-  private static Options buildGeneralOptions(Options opts) {
+  private static synchronized Options buildGeneralOptions(Options opts) {
     Option fs = OptionBuilder.withArgName("local|namenode:port")
     .hasArg()
     .withDescription("specify a namenode")