diff --git a/dev-support/test-patch.sh b/dev-support/test-patch.sh
index ccc7a6f65d..5e38974142 100755
--- a/dev-support/test-patch.sh
+++ b/dev-support/test-patch.sh
@@ -921,8 +921,9 @@ fi
 checkTests
 (( RESULT = RESULT + $? ))
 applyPatch
-(( RESULT = RESULT + $? ))
-if [[ $RESULT != 0 ]] ; then
+APPLY_PATCH_RET=$?
+(( RESULT = RESULT + $APPLY_PATCH_RET ))
+if [[ $APPLY_PATCH_RET != 0 ]] ; then
   submitJiraComment 1
   cleanupAndExit 1
 fi
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index a847fc389c..c69bfc1e74 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -320,6 +320,9 @@ Branch-2 ( Unreleased changes )
     HADOOP-8566. AvroReflectSerializer.accept(Class) throws a NPE if the class has no 
     package (primitive types and arrays). (tucu)
 
+    HADOOP-8584. test-patch.sh should not immediately exit when no
+    tests are added or modified. (Colin Patrick McCabe via eli)
+
   BREAKDOWN OF HDFS-3042 SUBTASKS
 
     HADOOP-8220. ZKFailoverController doesn't handle failure to become active