diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/lib/output/FileOutputCommitter.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/lib/output/FileOutputCommitter.java
index 7f1ea6175ed6e..a1749b0c8a9a0 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/lib/output/FileOutputCommitter.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/lib/output/FileOutputCommitter.java
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public class FileOutputCommitter extends PathOutputCommitter {
       "mapreduce.fileoutputcommitter.marksuccessfuljobs";
   public static final String FILEOUTPUTCOMMITTER_ALGORITHM_VERSION =
       "mapreduce.fileoutputcommitter.algorithm.version";
-  public static final int FILEOUTPUTCOMMITTER_ALGORITHM_VERSION_DEFAULT = 2;
+  public static final int FILEOUTPUTCOMMITTER_ALGORITHM_VERSION_DEFAULT = 1;
   // Skip cleanup _temporary folders under job's output directory
   public static final String FILEOUTPUTCOMMITTER_CLEANUP_SKIPPED =
       "mapreduce.fileoutputcommitter.cleanup.skipped";
@@ -348,6 +348,19 @@ public Path getWorkPath() throws IOException {
    * @param context the job's context
    */
   public void setupJob(JobContext context) throws IOException {
+    // warning about v2 which is made to a custom logger so people can
+    // turn it off if they are happy with the v2 commit protocol.
+    if (algorithmVersion == 2) {
+      Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(
+          "org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.lib.output."
+              + "FileOutputCommitter.Algorithm");
+
+      log.warn("The v2 commit algorithm assumes that the content of generated output files is"
+          + " consistent across all task attempts"
+          + " -if this is not true for this job, switch to the v1 commit algorithm."
+          + " See MAPREDUCE-7282");
+    }
+
     if (hasOutputPath()) {
       Path jobAttemptPath = getJobAttemptPath(context);
       FileSystem fs = jobAttemptPath.getFileSystem(
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/resources/mapred-default.xml b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/resources/mapred-default.xml
index c40bb0b19c88b..e6f2b311a7c3a 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/resources/mapred-default.xml
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/resources/mapred-default.xml
@@ -1562,10 +1562,10 @@
 
 <property>
   <name>mapreduce.fileoutputcommitter.algorithm.version</name>
-  <value>2</value>
-  <description>The file output committer algorithm version
-  valid algorithm version number: 1 or 2
-  default to 2, which is the original algorithm
+  <value>1</value>
+  <description>The file output committer algorithm version.
+
+  There are two algorithm versions in Hadoop, "1" and "2".
 
   In algorithm version 1,
 
@@ -1611,6 +1611,35 @@
   large jobs by having the tasks commit directly to the final
   output directory as they were completing and commitJob had
   very little to do.
+
+  The v2 commit algorithm assumes that the content of generated output files
+  is consistent across all task attempts - if this is not true for a job,
+  the v1 commit algorithm should be used.
+
+  This is because task commits are not atomic
+
+  If a first task attempt fails part-way
+  through its task commit, the output directory can end up
+  with data from that failed commit, alongside the data
+  from any subsequent attempts.
+
+  See https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MAPREDUCE-7282
+
+  Although no-longer the default, this algorithm is safe to use if
+  all task attempts for a single task meet the following requirements
+  -they generate exactly the same set of files
+  -the contents of each file are exactly the same in each task attempt
+
+  That is:
+  1. If a second attempt commits work, there will be no leftover files from
+  a first attempt which failed during its task commit.
+  2. If a network partition causes the first task attempt to overwrite
+  some/all of the output of a second attempt, the result will be
+  exactly the same as if it had not done so.
+
+  To avoid the warning message on job setup, set the log level of the log
+  org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.lib.output.FileOutputCommitter.Algorithm
+  to ERROR.
   </description>
 </property>