diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/dev-support/findbugsExcludeFile.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/dev-support/findbugsExcludeFile.xml
index be2911f3e7..ba6453dad7 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/dev-support/findbugsExcludeFile.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/dev-support/findbugsExcludeFile.xml
@@ -17,4 +17,8 @@
     </Or>
     <Bug pattern="EI_EXPOSE_REP,EI_EXPOSE_REP2" />
   </Match>
+  <Match>
+    <Package name="org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto" />
+    <Bug pattern="SE_BAD_FIELD,MS_SHOULD_BE_FINAL,UCF_USELESS_CONTROL_FLOW" />
+  </Match>
 </FindBugsFilter>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/pom.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/pom.xml
index 1b45095c5f..aeaa98058c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/pom.xml
@@ -63,6 +63,48 @@ http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
           </excludes>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
+        <artifactId>hadoop-maven-plugins</artifactId>
+        <executions>
+          <execution>
+            <id>compile-protoc</id>
+            <phase>generate-sources</phase>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>protoc</goal>
+            </goals>
+            <configuration>
+              <protocVersion>${protobuf.version}</protocVersion>
+              <protocCommand>${protoc.path}</protocCommand>
+              <imports>
+                <param>${basedir}/../../hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/proto</param>
+                <param>${basedir}/src/main/proto</param>
+              </imports>
+              <source>
+                <directory>${basedir}/src/main/proto</directory>
+                <includes>
+                  <include>ClientDatanodeProtocol.proto</include>
+                  <include>ClientNamenodeProtocol.proto</include>
+                  <include>acl.proto</include>
+                  <include>xattr.proto</include>
+                  <include>datatransfer.proto</include>
+                  <include>hdfs.proto</include>
+                  <include>encryption.proto</include>
+                  <include>inotify.proto</include>
+                </includes>
+              </source>
+              <output>${project.build.directory}/generated-sources/java</output>
+            </configuration>
+          </execution>
+        </executions>
+      </plugin>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
+        <configuration>
+          <excludePackageNames>org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto</excludePackageNames>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
     </plugins>
   </build>
 </project>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/ClientDatanodeProtocol.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/ClientDatanodeProtocol.proto
similarity index 100%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/ClientDatanodeProtocol.proto
rename to hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/ClientDatanodeProtocol.proto
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/ClientNamenodeProtocol.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/ClientNamenodeProtocol.proto
similarity index 100%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/ClientNamenodeProtocol.proto
rename to hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/ClientNamenodeProtocol.proto
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/acl.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/acl.proto
similarity index 96%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/acl.proto
rename to hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/acl.proto
index 57cc855786..bb7fdb0168 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/acl.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/acl.proto
@@ -61,11 +61,6 @@ message AclStatusProto {
   optional FsPermissionProto permission = 5;
 }
 
-message AclEditLogProto {
-  required string src            = 1;
-  repeated AclEntryProto entries = 2;
-}
-
 message ModifyAclEntriesRequestProto {
   required string src            = 1;
   repeated AclEntryProto aclSpec = 2;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/datatransfer.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/datatransfer.proto
similarity index 100%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/datatransfer.proto
rename to hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/datatransfer.proto
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/encryption.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/encryption.proto
similarity index 100%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/encryption.proto
rename to hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/encryption.proto
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/hdfs.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/hdfs.proto
similarity index 100%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/hdfs.proto
rename to hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/hdfs.proto
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/inotify.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/inotify.proto
similarity index 100%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/inotify.proto
rename to hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/inotify.proto
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/xattr.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/xattr.proto
similarity index 95%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/xattr.proto
rename to hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/xattr.proto
index acdc28ebb8..6c8b5eb594 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/xattr.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto/xattr.proto
@@ -35,11 +35,6 @@ message XAttrProto {
   optional bytes value = 3;
 }
   
-message XAttrEditLogProto {
-  optional string src = 1;
-  repeated XAttrProto xAttrs = 2;
-}
-
 enum XAttrSetFlagProto {
   XATTR_CREATE     = 0x01;
   XATTR_REPLACE    = 0x02;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index a7c9e7c18e..f595751cc7 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -710,6 +710,9 @@ Release 2.8.0 - UNRELEASED
     HDFS-8712. Remove 'public' and 'abstracta modifiers in FsVolumeSpi and
     FsDatasetSpi (Lei (Eddy) Xu via vinayakumarb)
 
+    HDFS-8726. Move protobuf files that define the client-sever protocols to
+    hdfs-client. (wheat9)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
     HDFS-8026. Trace FSOutputSummer#writeChecksumChunks rather than
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/pom.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/pom.xml
index f90644c4d3..db38851264 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/pom.xml
@@ -328,26 +328,20 @@ http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
               <protocCommand>${protoc.path}</protocCommand>
               <imports>
                 <param>${basedir}/../../hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/proto</param>
+                <param>${basedir}/../hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto</param>
                 <param>${basedir}/src/main/proto</param>
               </imports>
               <source>
                 <directory>${basedir}/src/main/proto</directory>
                 <includes>
-                  <include>ClientDatanodeProtocol.proto</include>
-                  <include>ClientNamenodeProtocol.proto</include>
                   <include>DatanodeProtocol.proto</include>
                   <include>HAZKInfo.proto</include>
                   <include>InterDatanodeProtocol.proto</include>
                   <include>JournalProtocol.proto</include>
                   <include>NamenodeProtocol.proto</include>
                   <include>QJournalProtocol.proto</include>
-                  <include>acl.proto</include>
-                  <include>xattr.proto</include>
-                  <include>datatransfer.proto</include>
+                  <include>editlog.proto</include>
                   <include>fsimage.proto</include>
-                  <include>hdfs.proto</include>
-                  <include>encryption.proto</include>
-                  <include>inotify.proto</include>
                 </includes>
               </source>
               <output>${project.build.directory}/generated-sources/java</output>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/contrib/bkjournal/pom.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/contrib/bkjournal/pom.xml
index 3b205e44b0..7e58606181 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/contrib/bkjournal/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/contrib/bkjournal/pom.xml
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
               <protocCommand>${protoc.path}</protocCommand>
               <imports>
                 <param>${basedir}/../../../../../hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/proto</param>
-                <param>${basedir}/../../../../../hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto</param>
+                <param>${basedir}/../../../../../hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/proto</param>
                 <param>${basedir}/src/main/proto</param>
               </imports>
               <source>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLogOp.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLogOp.java
index c8e565e2c4..ab36f17af0 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLogOp.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLogOp.java
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.HdfsConstants;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.LayoutVersion;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.LayoutVersion.Feature;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.AclProtos.AclEditLogProto;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.XAttrProtos.XAttrEditLogProto;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.EditLogProtos.AclEditLogProto;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.EditLogProtos.XAttrEditLogProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocolPB.PBHelper;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.security.token.delegation.DelegationTokenIdentifier;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.common.HdfsServerConstants;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/editlog.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/editlog.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f25fe591ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/editlog.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+option java_package = "org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto";
+option java_outer_classname = "EditLogProtos";
+option java_generate_equals_and_hash = true;
+package hadoop.hdfs;
+
+import "acl.proto";
+import "xattr.proto";
+
+message AclEditLogProto {
+  required string src            = 1;
+  repeated AclEntryProto entries = 2;
+}
+
+message XAttrEditLogProto {
+  optional string src = 1;
+  repeated XAttrProto xAttrs = 2;
+}