diff --git a/resource-managers/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/Client.scala b/resource-managers/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/Client.scala
index 1dd0715918042..208b6de550e8b 100644
--- a/resource-managers/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/Client.scala
+++ b/resource-managers/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/Client.scala
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import java.io.{File, FileOutputStream, IOException, OutputStreamWriter}
 import java.net.{InetAddress, UnknownHostException, URI}
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets
+import java.security.PrivilegedExceptionAction
 import java.util.{Locale, Properties, UUID}
 import java.util.zip.{ZipEntry, ZipOutputStream}
 
@@ -192,16 +193,32 @@ private[spark] class Client(
    * Cleanup application staging directory.
    */
   private def cleanupStagingDir(appId: ApplicationId): Unit = {
-    val stagingDirPath = new Path(appStagingBaseDir, getAppStagingDir(appId))
-    try {
-      val preserveFiles = sparkConf.get(PRESERVE_STAGING_FILES)
-      val fs = stagingDirPath.getFileSystem(hadoopConf)
-      if (!preserveFiles && fs.delete(stagingDirPath, true)) {
-        logInfo(s"Deleted staging directory $stagingDirPath")
+    if (sparkConf.get(PRESERVE_STAGING_FILES)) {
+      return
+    }
+
+    def cleanupStagingDirInternal(): Unit = {
+      val stagingDirPath = new Path(appStagingBaseDir, getAppStagingDir(appId))
+      try {
+        val fs = stagingDirPath.getFileSystem(hadoopConf)
+        if (fs.delete(stagingDirPath, true)) {
+          logInfo(s"Deleted staging directory $stagingDirPath")
+        }
+      } catch {
+        case ioe: IOException =>
+          logWarning("Failed to cleanup staging dir " + stagingDirPath, ioe)
       }
-    } catch {
-      case ioe: IOException =>
-        logWarning("Failed to cleanup staging dir " + stagingDirPath, ioe)
+    }
+
+    if (isClusterMode && principal != null && keytab != null) {
+      val newUgi = UserGroupInformation.loginUserFromKeytabAndReturnUGI(principal, keytab)
+      newUgi.doAs(new PrivilegedExceptionAction[Unit] {
+        override def run(): Unit = {
+          cleanupStagingDirInternal()
+        }
+      })
+    } else {
+      cleanupStagingDirInternal()
     }
   }