diff --git a/bin/spark-sql b/bin/spark-sql
index 564f1f419060..2e5d8e614175 100755
--- a/bin/spark-sql
+++ b/bin/spark-sql
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 set -o posix
 
 CLASS="org.apache.spark.sql.hive.thriftserver.SparkSQLCLIDriver"
+CLASS_NOT_FOUND_EXIT_STATUS=1
 
 # Figure out where Spark is installed
 FWDIR="$(cd `dirname $0`/..; pwd)"
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ while (($#)); do
       CLI_ARGS+=("$1"); shift
       ;;
 
-    -s | --silent)
+    -S | --silent)
       CLI_ARGS+=("$1"); shift
       ;;
 
@@ -91,4 +92,13 @@ while (($#)); do
   esac
 done
 
-exec "$FWDIR"/bin/spark-submit --class $CLASS "${SUBMISSION_ARGS[@]}" spark-internal "${CLI_ARGS[@]}"
+"$FWDIR"/bin/spark-submit --class $CLASS "${SUBMISSION_ARGS[@]}" spark-internal "${CLI_ARGS[@]}"
+exit_status=$?
+
+if [[ exit_status -eq CLASS_NOT_FOUND_EXIT_STATUS ]]; then
+  echo
+  echo "Failed to load Spark SQL CLI main class $CLASS."
+  echo "You need to build Spark with -Phive."
+fi
+
+exit $exit_status
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
index f8cdbc3c392b..550ee7253890 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ object SparkSubmit {
   private val SPARK_SHELL = "spark-shell"
   private val PYSPARK_SHELL = "pyspark-shell"
 
+  private val CLASS_NOT_FOUND_EXIT_STATUS = 1
+
   // Exposed for testing
   private[spark] var exitFn: () => Unit = () => System.exit(-1)
   private[spark] var printStream: PrintStream = System.err
@@ -311,8 +313,18 @@ object SparkSubmit {
       System.setProperty(key, value)
     }
 
-    val mainClass = Class.forName(childMainClass, true, loader)
+    var mainClass: Class[_] = null
+
+    try {
+      mainClass = Class.forName(childMainClass, true, loader)
+    } catch {
+      case e: ClassNotFoundException =>
+        e.printStackTrace(printStream)
+        System.exit(CLASS_NOT_FOUND_EXIT_STATUS)
+    }
+
     val mainMethod = mainClass.getMethod("main", new Array[String](0).getClass)
+
     try {
       mainMethod.invoke(null, childArgs.toArray)
     } catch {
diff --git a/sbin/start-thriftserver.sh b/sbin/start-thriftserver.sh
index 2c4452473ccb..fa50730a3949 100755
--- a/sbin/start-thriftserver.sh
+++ b/sbin/start-thriftserver.sh
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ set -o posix
 FWDIR="$(cd `dirname $0`/..; pwd)"
 
 CLASS="org.apache.spark.sql.hive.thriftserver.HiveThriftServer2"
+CLASS_NOT_FOUND_EXIT_STATUS=1
 
 function usage {
   echo "Usage: ./sbin/start-thriftserver [options] [thrift server options]"
@@ -75,4 +76,13 @@ while (($#)); do
   esac
 done
 
-exec "$FWDIR"/bin/spark-submit --class $CLASS "${SUBMISSION_ARGS[@]}" spark-internal "${THRIFT_SERVER_ARGS[@]}"
+"$FWDIR"/bin/spark-submit --class $CLASS "${SUBMISSION_ARGS[@]}" spark-internal "${THRIFT_SERVER_ARGS[@]}"
+exit_status=$?
+
+if [[ exit_status -eq CLASS_NOT_FOUND_EXIT_STATUS ]]; then
+  echo
+  echo "Failed to load Hive Thrift server main class $CLASS."
+  echo "You need to build Spark with -Phive."
+fi
+
+exit $exit_status
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
index 326b0a7275b3..0807dcf1e291 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
@@ -72,11 +72,10 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with TestUt
        """.stripMargin.split("\\s+")
 
     val pb = new ProcessBuilder(command ++ args: _*)
-    val environment = pb.environment()
     process = pb.start()
     inputReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream))
     errorReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getErrorStream))
-    waitForOutput(inputReader, "ThriftBinaryCLIService listening on", 300000)
+    waitForOutput(inputReader, "ThriftBinaryCLIService listening on", 30000)
 
     // Spawn a thread to read the output from the forked process.
     // Note that this is necessary since in some configurations, log4j could be blocked