diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
index e6cdd0d298f3..87250268595e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
@@ -2245,6 +2245,9 @@ object SparkContext extends Logging {
       if (activeContext.get() == null) {
         setActiveContext(new SparkContext(config), allowMultipleContexts = false)
       }
+      if (config.getAll.nonEmpty) {
+        logWarning("Use an existing SparkContext, some configuration may not take effect.")
+      }
       activeContext.get()
     }
   }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
index f697769bdcdb..9cfc1df6300e 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@ object SparkSession {
   /**
    * Builder for [[SparkSession]].
    */
-  class Builder {
+  class Builder extends Logging {
 
     private[this] val options = new scala.collection.mutable.HashMap[String, String]
 
@@ -750,6 +750,9 @@ object SparkSession {
       var session = activeThreadSession.get()
       if ((session ne null) && !session.sparkContext.isStopped) {
         options.foreach { case (k, v) => session.conf.set(k, v) }
+        if (options.nonEmpty) {
+          logWarning("Use an existing SparkSession, some configuration may not take effect.")
+        }
         return session
       }
 
@@ -759,6 +762,9 @@ object SparkSession {
         session = defaultSession.get()
         if ((session ne null) && !session.sparkContext.isStopped) {
           options.foreach { case (k, v) => session.conf.set(k, v) }
+          if (options.nonEmpty) {
+            logWarning("Use an existing SparkSession, some configuration may not take effect.")
+          }
           return session
         }
 
@@ -771,7 +777,11 @@ object SparkSession {
 
           val sparkConf = new SparkConf()
           options.foreach { case (k, v) => sparkConf.set(k, v) }
-          SparkContext.getOrCreate(sparkConf)
+          val sc = SparkContext.getOrCreate(sparkConf)
+          // maybe this is an existing SparkContext, update its SparkConf which maybe used
+          // by SparkSession
+          options.foreach { case (k, v) => sc.conf.set(k, v) }
+          sc
         }
         session = new SparkSession(sparkContext)
         options.foreach { case (k, v) => session.conf.set(k, v) }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSessionBuilderSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSessionBuilderSuite.scala
index ec6a2b357586..786956df8a55 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSessionBuilderSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSessionBuilderSuite.scala
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql
 
-import org.apache.spark.{SparkContext, SparkFunSuite}
+import org.apache.spark.{SparkConf, SparkContext, SparkFunSuite}
 
 /**
  * Test cases for the builder pattern of [[SparkSession]].
@@ -90,4 +90,16 @@ class SparkSessionBuilderSuite extends SparkFunSuite {
     assert(newSession != activeSession)
     newSession.stop()
   }
+
+  test("create SparkContext first then SparkSession") {
+    sparkContext.stop()
+    val conf = new SparkConf().setAppName("test").setMaster("local").set("key1", "value1")
+    val sparkContext2 = new SparkContext(conf)
+    val session = SparkSession.builder().config("key2", "value2").getOrCreate()
+    assert(session.conf.get("key1") == "value1")
+    assert(session.conf.get("key2") == "value2")
+    assert(session.sparkContext.conf.get("key1") == "value1")
+    assert(session.sparkContext.conf.get("key2") == "value2")
+    session.stop()
+  }
 }