diff --git a/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/ApplicationMaster.scala b/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/ApplicationMaster.scala
index 4df90d7b6b0b..7c0b30997ecd 100644
--- a/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/ApplicationMaster.scala
+++ b/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/ApplicationMaster.scala
@@ -384,19 +384,23 @@ private[spark] class ApplicationMaster(
     // been set by the Thread executing the user class.
     val sc = waitForSparkContextInitialized()
 
-    // If there is no SparkContext at this point, just fail the app.
-    if (sc == null) {
-      finish(FinalApplicationStatus.FAILED,
-        ApplicationMaster.EXIT_SC_NOT_INITED,
-        "Timed out waiting for SparkContext.")
-    } else {
-      rpcEnv = sc.env.rpcEnv
-      val driverRef = runAMEndpoint(
-        sc.getConf.get("spark.driver.host"),
-        sc.getConf.get("spark.driver.port"),
-        isClusterMode = true)
-      registerAM(rpcEnv, driverRef, sc.ui.map(_.appUIAddress).getOrElse(""), securityMgr)
-      userClassThread.join()
+    if (!finished) {
+      // If there is no SparkContext at this point, just fail the app.
+      if (!sc.isDefined) {
+        finish(FinalApplicationStatus.FAILED,
+          ApplicationMaster.EXIT_SC_NOT_INITED,
+          "Timed out waiting for SparkContext.")
+      } else {
+        val sparkContext = sc.get
+        rpcEnv = sparkContext.env.rpcEnv
+        val driverRef = runAMEndpoint(
+          sparkContext.getConf.get("spark.driver.host"),
+          sparkContext.getConf.get("spark.driver.port"),
+          isClusterMode = true)
+        registerAM(rpcEnv, driverRef, sparkContext.ui.map(_.appUIAddress).getOrElse(""),
+          securityMgr)
+        userClassThread.join()
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -503,7 +507,7 @@ private[spark] class ApplicationMaster(
     }
   }
 
-  private def waitForSparkContextInitialized(): SparkContext = {
+  private def waitForSparkContextInitialized(): Option[SparkContext] = {
     logInfo("Waiting for spark context initialization")
     sparkContextRef.synchronized {
       val totalWaitTime = sparkConf.get(AM_MAX_WAIT_TIME)
@@ -513,13 +517,16 @@ private[spark] class ApplicationMaster(
         logInfo("Waiting for spark context initialization ... ")
         sparkContextRef.wait(10000L)
       }
-
-      val sparkContext = sparkContextRef.get()
-      if (sparkContext == null) {
-        logError(("SparkContext did not initialize after waiting for %d ms. Please check earlier"
-          + " log output for errors. Failing the application.").format(totalWaitTime))
+      if (!finished) {
+        val sparkContext = sparkContextRef.get()
+        if (sparkContext == null) {
+          logError(("SparkContext did not initialize after waiting for %d ms. Please check earlier"
+            + " log output for errors. Failing the application.").format(totalWaitTime))
+        } else {
+          return Some(sparkContext)
+        }
       }
-      sparkContext
+      None
     }
   }