diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES_HDFS-5535.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES_HDFS-5535.txt
index 1bae747730..5feb1c47f3 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES_HDFS-5535.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES_HDFS-5535.txt
@@ -20,3 +20,5 @@ HDFS-5535 subtasks:
     DataNodeLayoutVersion. (Brandon Li via szetszwo)
 
     HDFS-5848. Add rolling upgrade status to heartbeat response. (szetszwo)
+
+    HDFS-5890. Avoid NPE in Datanode heartbeat. (Vinay via brandonli)
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/protocolPB/DatanodeProtocolClientSideTranslatorPB.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/protocolPB/DatanodeProtocolClientSideTranslatorPB.java
index aa3695e82e..9a8503c99c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/protocolPB/DatanodeProtocolClientSideTranslatorPB.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/protocolPB/DatanodeProtocolClientSideTranslatorPB.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.ExtendedBlock;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.HdfsConstants;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.LocatedBlock;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.RollingUpgradeStatus;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.DatanodeProtocolProtos.BlockReceivedAndDeletedRequestProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.DatanodeProtocolProtos.BlockReportRequestProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.DatanodeProtocolProtos.BlockReportResponseProto;
@@ -183,9 +184,12 @@ public HeartbeatResponse sendHeartbeat(DatanodeRegistration registration,
       cmds[index] = PBHelper.convert(p);
       index++;
     }
-    return new HeartbeatResponse(cmds,
-        PBHelper.convert(resp.getHaStatus()),
-        PBHelper.convert(resp.getRollingUpgradeStatus()));
+    RollingUpgradeStatus rollingUpdateStatus = null;
+    if (resp.hasRollingUpgradeStatus()) {
+      rollingUpdateStatus = PBHelper.convert(resp.getRollingUpgradeStatus());
+    }
+    return new HeartbeatResponse(cmds, PBHelper.convert(resp.getHaStatus()),
+        rollingUpdateStatus);
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/protocolPB/DatanodeProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/protocolPB/DatanodeProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java
index d3063c9290..b7071f6036 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/protocolPB/DatanodeProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/protocolPB/DatanodeProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.DatanodeID;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.LocatedBlock;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.RollingUpgradeStatus;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.DatanodeProtocolProtos.BlockReceivedAndDeletedRequestProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.DatanodeProtocolProtos.BlockReceivedAndDeletedResponseProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.DatanodeProtocolProtos.BlockReportRequestProto;
@@ -121,8 +122,12 @@ public HeartbeatResponseProto sendHeartbeat(RpcController controller,
       }
     }
     builder.setHaStatus(PBHelper.convert(response.getNameNodeHaState()));
-    builder.setRollingUpgradeStatus(PBHelper.convertRollingUpgradeStatus(
-        response.getRollingUpdateStatus()));
+    RollingUpgradeStatus rollingUpdateStatus = response
+        .getRollingUpdateStatus();
+    if (rollingUpdateStatus != null) {
+      builder.setRollingUpgradeStatus(PBHelper
+          .convertRollingUpgradeStatus(rollingUpdateStatus));
+    }
     return builder.build();
   }