diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 5b51bce687..3d101d4f5a 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -992,6 +992,9 @@ Release 2.8.0 - UNRELEASED
     HADOOP-12051. ProtobufRpcEngine.invoke() should use Exception.toString()
     over getMessage() in logging/span events. (Varun Saxena via stevel)
 
+    HADOOP-12017. Hadoop archives command should use configurable replication
+    factor when closing (Bibin A Chundatt via vinayakumarb)
+
 Release 2.7.2 - UNRELEASED
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/HadoopArchives.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/HadoopArchives.java
index 330830b41f..ee148503f1 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/HadoopArchives.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/HadoopArchives.java
@@ -100,15 +100,17 @@ public class HadoopArchives implements Tool {
   static final String SRC_PARENT_LABEL = NAME + ".parent.path";
   /** the size of the blocks that will be created when archiving **/
   static final String HAR_BLOCKSIZE_LABEL = NAME + ".block.size";
-  /**the size of the part files that will be created when archiving **/
+  /** the replication factor for the file in archiving. **/
+  static final String HAR_REPLICATION_LABEL = NAME + ".replication.factor";
+  /** the size of the part files that will be created when archiving **/
   static final String HAR_PARTSIZE_LABEL = NAME + ".partfile.size";
 
   /** size of each part file size **/
   long partSize = 2 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024l;
   /** size of blocks in hadoop archives **/
   long blockSize = 512 * 1024 * 1024l;
-  /** the desired replication degree; default is 10 **/
-  short repl = 10;
+  /** the desired replication degree; default is 3 **/
+  short repl = 3;
 
   private static final String usage = "archive"
   + " <-archiveName <NAME>.har> <-p <parent path>> [-r <replication factor>]" +
@@ -475,6 +477,7 @@ void archive(Path parentPath, List<Path> srcPaths,
     conf.setLong(HAR_PARTSIZE_LABEL, partSize);
     conf.set(DST_HAR_LABEL, archiveName);
     conf.set(SRC_PARENT_LABEL, parentPath.makeQualified(fs).toString());
+    conf.setInt(HAR_REPLICATION_LABEL, repl);
     Path outputPath = new Path(dest, archiveName);
     FileOutputFormat.setOutputPath(conf, outputPath);
     FileSystem outFs = outputPath.getFileSystem(conf);
@@ -549,8 +552,6 @@ void archive(Path parentPath, List<Path> srcPaths,
     } finally {
       srcWriter.close();
     }
-    //increase the replication of src files
-    jobfs.setReplication(srcFiles, repl);
     conf.setInt(SRC_COUNT_LABEL, numFiles);
     conf.setLong(TOTAL_SIZE_LABEL, totalSize);
     int numMaps = (int)(totalSize/partSize);
@@ -587,6 +588,7 @@ static class HArchivesMapper
     FileSystem destFs = null;
     byte[] buffer;
     int buf_size = 128 * 1024;
+    private int replication = 3;
     long blockSize = 512 * 1024 * 1024l;
 
     // configure the mapper and create 
@@ -595,7 +597,7 @@ static class HArchivesMapper
     // tmp files. 
     public void configure(JobConf conf) {
       this.conf = conf;
-
+      replication = conf.getInt(HAR_REPLICATION_LABEL, 3);
       // this is tightly tied to map reduce
       // since it does not expose an api 
       // to get the partition
@@ -712,6 +714,7 @@ public void map(LongWritable key, HarEntry value,
     public void close() throws IOException {
       // close the part files.
       partStream.close();
+      destFs.setReplication(tmpOutput, (short) replication);
     }
   }
   
@@ -732,6 +735,7 @@ static class HArchivesReducer implements Reducer<IntWritable,
     private int numIndexes = 1000;
     private Path tmpOutputDir = null;
     private int written = 0;
+    private int replication = 3;
     private int keyVal = 0;
     
     // configure 
@@ -740,6 +744,7 @@ public void configure(JobConf conf) {
       tmpOutputDir = FileOutputFormat.getWorkOutputPath(this.conf);
       masterIndex = new Path(tmpOutputDir, "_masterindex");
       index = new Path(tmpOutputDir, "_index");
+      replication = conf.getInt(HAR_REPLICATION_LABEL, 3);
       try {
         fs = masterIndex.getFileSystem(conf);
         if (fs.exists(masterIndex)) {
@@ -798,8 +803,8 @@ public void close() throws IOException {
       outStream.close();
       indexStream.close();
       // try increasing the replication 
-      fs.setReplication(index, (short) 5);
-      fs.setReplication(masterIndex, (short) 5);
+      fs.setReplication(index, (short) replication);
+      fs.setReplication(masterIndex, (short) replication);
     }
     
   }
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/site/markdown/HadoopArchives.md.vm b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/site/markdown/HadoopArchives.md.vm
index be557a7329..8bbb1ea596 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/site/markdown/HadoopArchives.md.vm
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/site/markdown/HadoopArchives.md.vm
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ How to Create an Archive
   sections.
 
   -r indicates the desired replication factor; if this optional argument is
-  not specified, a replication factor of 10 will be used.
+  not specified, a replication factor of 3 will be used.
 
   If you just want to archive a single directory /foo/bar then you can just use
 
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/TestHadoopArchives.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/TestHadoopArchives.java
index d8222dc20f..165c51559e 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/TestHadoopArchives.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-archives/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/TestHadoopArchives.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.FilterInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -39,7 +38,9 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FsShell;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.HarFileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.LocalFileSystem;
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.LocatedFileStatus;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.RemoteIterator;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.MiniDFSCluster;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.IOUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.JarFinder;
@@ -110,13 +111,9 @@ public void setUp() throws Exception {
     conf.set(CapacitySchedulerConfiguration.PREFIX
         + CapacitySchedulerConfiguration.ROOT + ".default."
         + CapacitySchedulerConfiguration.CAPACITY, "100");
-    dfscluster = new MiniDFSCluster
-      .Builder(conf)
-      .checkExitOnShutdown(true)
-      .numDataNodes(2)
-      .format(true)
-      .racks(null)
-      .build();
+    dfscluster =
+        new MiniDFSCluster.Builder(conf).checkExitOnShutdown(true)
+            .numDataNodes(3).format(true).racks(null).build();
 
     fs = dfscluster.getFileSystem();
     
@@ -753,12 +750,21 @@ private String makeArchiveWithRepl() throws Exception {
 
     final String harName = "foo.har";
     final String fullHarPathStr = prefix + harName;
-    final String[] args = { "-archiveName", harName, "-p", inputPathStr, "-r",
-        "3", "*", archivePath.toString() };
+    final String[] args =
+        { "-archiveName", harName, "-p", inputPathStr, "-r", "2", "*",
+            archivePath.toString() };
     System.setProperty(HadoopArchives.TEST_HADOOP_ARCHIVES_JAR_PATH,
         HADOOP_ARCHIVES_JAR);
     final HadoopArchives har = new HadoopArchives(conf);
     assertEquals(0, ToolRunner.run(har, args));
+    RemoteIterator<LocatedFileStatus> listFiles =
+        fs.listFiles(new Path(archivePath.toString() + "/" + harName), false);
+    while (listFiles.hasNext()) {
+      LocatedFileStatus next = listFiles.next();
+      if (!next.getPath().toString().endsWith("_SUCCESS")) {
+        assertEquals(next.getPath().toString(), 2, next.getReplication());
+      }
+    }
     return fullHarPathStr;
   }