diff --git a/beeline/src/java/org/apache/hive/beeline/BeeLine.java b/beeline/src/java/org/apache/hive/beeline/BeeLine.java
index 402fadddde70..c6d009c19afa 100644
--- a/beeline/src/java/org/apache/hive/beeline/BeeLine.java
+++ b/beeline/src/java/org/apache/hive/beeline/BeeLine.java
@@ -795,6 +795,8 @@ int initArgs(String[] args) {
     int code = 0;
     if (cl.getOptionValues('e') != null) {
       commands = Arrays.asList(cl.getOptionValues('e'));
+      opts.setAllowMultiLineCommand(false); //When using -e, command is always a single line
+
     }
 
     if (!commands.isEmpty() && getOpts().getScriptFile() != null) {
diff --git a/beeline/src/java/org/apache/hive/beeline/Commands.java b/beeline/src/java/org/apache/hive/beeline/Commands.java
index d5806a4a22f8..e46c0cfbe575 100644
--- a/beeline/src/java/org/apache/hive/beeline/Commands.java
+++ b/beeline/src/java/org/apache/hive/beeline/Commands.java
@@ -1072,7 +1072,6 @@ private boolean executeInternal(String sql, boolean call) {
    * Check if the input line is a multi-line command which needs to read further
    */
   public String handleMultiLineCmd(String line) throws IOException {
-    //When using -e, console reader is not initialized and command is always a single line
     int[] startQuote = {-1};
     line = HiveStringUtils.removeComments(line, startQuote);
     while (isMultiLine(line) && beeLine.getOpts().isAllowMultiLineCommand()) {
diff --git a/beeline/src/test/org/apache/hive/beeline/TestCommands.java b/beeline/src/test/org/apache/hive/beeline/TestCommands.java
index 8a51f9800e92..567ca25270cc 100644
--- a/beeline/src/test/org/apache/hive/beeline/TestCommands.java
+++ b/beeline/src/test/org/apache/hive/beeline/TestCommands.java
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 import static org.apache.hive.common.util.HiveStringUtils.removeComments;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 public class TestCommands {
 
   @Test
@@ -43,5 +45,19 @@ public void testLinesEndingWithComments() {
     assertEquals("'show --comments tables'", removeComments("'show --comments tables' --comments",escape));
     assertEquals("'\"show --comments tables\"'", removeComments("'\"show --comments tables\"' --comments",escape));
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Test the commands directly call from beeline.
+   * @throws IOException
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testBeelineCommands() throws IOException {
+ // avoid System.exit() call in beeline which causes JVM to exit and fails the test
+    System.setProperty(BeeLineOpts.PROPERTY_NAME_EXIT, "true");
+    // Verify the command without ';' at the end also works fine
+    BeeLine.mainWithInputRedirection(new String[] {"-u", "jdbc:hive2://", "-e", "select 3"}, null);
+    BeeLine.mainWithInputRedirection(
+        new String[] {"-u", "jdbc:hive2://", "-e", "create table t1(x int); show tables"}, null);
+  }
 }