diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/commands.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/commands.scala
index 98df5bef34efa..65687db4e6235 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/commands.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/commands.scala
@@ -84,8 +84,14 @@ case class SetCommand(
       logWarning(
         s"Property ${SQLConf.Deprecated.MAPRED_REDUCE_TASKS} is deprecated, " +
           s"automatically converted to ${SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS} instead.")
-      sqlContext.setConf(SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS, value)
-      Seq(Row(s"${SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS}=$value"))
+      if (value.toInt < 1) {
+        val msg = s"Setting negative ${SQLConf.Deprecated.MAPRED_REDUCE_TASKS} for automatically " +
+          "determining the number of reducers is not supported."
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException(msg)
+      } else {
+        sqlContext.setConf(SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS, value)
+        Seq(Row(s"${SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS}=$value"))
+      }
 
     // Configures a single property.
     case Some((key, Some(value))) =>
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLQuerySuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLQuerySuite.scala
index 0ab8558c1db13..e374bd87e97d1 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLQuerySuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLQuerySuite.scala
@@ -862,6 +862,16 @@ class SQLQuerySuite extends QueryTest with BeforeAndAfterAll {
     conf.clear()
   }
 
+  test("SET commands with illegal or inappropriate argument") {
+    conf.clear()
+    // Set negative mapred.reduce.tasks for automatically determing
+    // the number of reducers is not supported
+    intercept[IllegalArgumentException](sql(s"SET mapred.reduce.tasks=-1"))
+    intercept[IllegalArgumentException](sql(s"SET mapred.reduce.tasks=-01"))
+    intercept[IllegalArgumentException](sql(s"SET mapred.reduce.tasks=-2"))
+    conf.clear()
+  }
+
   test("apply schema") {
     val schema1 = StructType(
       StructField("f1", IntegerType, false) ::