diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
index 292a42b2de..5ca691b8d8 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -159,6 +159,9 @@ Branch-2 ( Unreleased changes )
     MAPREDUCE-3906. Fix inconsistency in documentation regarding
     mapreduce.jobhistory.principal. (Eugene Koontz via harsh)
 
+    MAPREDUCE-4432. Confusing warning message when GenericOptionsParser
+    is not used. (Gabriel Reid via harsh)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
   BUG FIXES
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/JobSubmitter.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/JobSubmitter.java
index 148df50324..9c271a0276 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/JobSubmitter.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/JobSubmitter.java
@@ -135,8 +135,9 @@ private void copyAndConfigureFiles(Job job, Path submitJobDir,
       short replication) throws IOException {
     Configuration conf = job.getConfiguration();
     if (!(conf.getBoolean(Job.USED_GENERIC_PARSER, false))) {
-      LOG.warn("Use GenericOptionsParser for parsing the arguments. " +
-               "Applications should implement Tool for the same.");
+      LOG.warn("Hadoop command-line option parsing not performed. " +
+               "Implement the Tool interface and execute your application " +
+               "with ToolRunner to remedy this.");
     }
 
     // get all the command line arguments passed in by the user conf