diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataXceiverServer.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataXceiverServer.java
index 7faf2108bd..43d292c1b5 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataXceiverServer.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataXceiverServer.java
@@ -188,6 +188,9 @@ void release() {
     this.maxXceiverCount =
       conf.getInt(DFSConfigKeys.DFS_DATANODE_MAX_RECEIVER_THREADS_KEY,
                   DFSConfigKeys.DFS_DATANODE_MAX_RECEIVER_THREADS_DEFAULT);
+    Preconditions.checkArgument(this.maxXceiverCount >= 1,
+        DFSConfigKeys.DFS_DATANODE_MAX_RECEIVER_THREADS_KEY +
+        " should not be less than 1.");
 
     this.estimateBlockSize = conf.getLongBytes(DFSConfigKeys.DFS_BLOCK_SIZE_KEY,
         DFSConfigKeys.DFS_BLOCK_SIZE_DEFAULT);