diff --git a/sbin/run-master.sh b/sbin/run-master.sh
new file mode 120000
index 000000000000..f5db3ceb345d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbin/run-master.sh
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+start-master.sh
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sbin/run-slave.sh b/sbin/run-slave.sh
new file mode 120000
index 000000000000..4c081cc1d622
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbin/run-slave.sh
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+start-slave.sh
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sbin/spark-daemon-run.sh b/sbin/spark-daemon-run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..34e3a80fa37a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbin/spark-daemon-run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+# Runs a Spark daemon foreground.
+#
+# Environment Variables
+#
+#   SPARK_CONF_DIR  Alternate conf dir. Default is ${SPARK_HOME}/conf.
+#   SPARK_LOG_DIR   Where log files are stored. ${SPARK_HOME}/logs by default.
+#   SPARK_MASTER    host:path where spark code should be rsync'd from
+#   SPARK_IDENT_STRING   A string representing this instance of spark. $USER by default
+#   SPARK_NICENESS The scheduling priority for daemons. Defaults to 0.
+##
+
+usage="Usage: spark-daemon-run.sh [--config <conf-dir>] (class|submit) <spark-command> <spark-instance-number> <args...>"
+
+# if no args specified, show usage
+if [ $# -le 1 ]; then
+  echo $usage
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "${SPARK_HOME}" ]; then
+  export SPARK_HOME="$(cd "`dirname "$0"`"/..; pwd)"
+fi
+
+. "${SPARK_HOME}/sbin/spark-config.sh"
+
+# get arguments
+
+# Check if --config is passed as an argument. It is an optional parameter.
+# Exit if the argument is not a directory.
+
+if [ "$1" == "--config" ]
+then
+  shift
+  conf_dir="$1"
+  if [ ! -d "$conf_dir" ]
+  then
+    echo "ERROR : $conf_dir is not a directory"
+    echo $usage
+    exit 1
+  else
+    export SPARK_CONF_DIR="$conf_dir"
+  fi
+  shift
+fi
+
+mode=$1
+shift
+command=$1
+shift
+instance=$1
+shift
+
+spark_rotate_log ()
+{
+    log=$1;
+    num=5;
+    if [ -n "$2" ]; then
+	num=$2
+    fi
+    if [ -f "$log" ]; then # rotate logs
+	while [ $num -gt 1 ]; do
+	    prev=`expr $num - 1`
+	    [ -f "$log.$prev" ] && mv "$log.$prev" "$log.$num"
+	    num=$prev
+	done
+	mv "$log" "$log.$num";
+    fi
+}
+
+. "${SPARK_HOME}/bin/load-spark-env.sh"
+
+if [ "$SPARK_IDENT_STRING" = "" ]; then
+  export SPARK_IDENT_STRING="$USER"
+fi
+
+
+
+# get log directory
+if [ "$SPARK_LOG_DIR" = "" ]; then
+  export SPARK_LOG_DIR="${SPARK_HOME}/logs"
+fi
+mkdir -p "$SPARK_LOG_DIR"
+touch "$SPARK_LOG_DIR"/.spark_test > /dev/null 2>&1
+TEST_LOG_DIR=$?
+if [ "${TEST_LOG_DIR}" = "0" ]; then
+  rm -f "$SPARK_LOG_DIR"/.spark_test
+else
+  chown "$SPARK_IDENT_STRING" "$SPARK_LOG_DIR"
+fi
+
+# some variables
+log="$SPARK_LOG_DIR/spark-$SPARK_IDENT_STRING-$command-$instance-$HOSTNAME.out"
+
+# Set default scheduling priority
+if [ "$SPARK_NICENESS" = "" ]; then
+    export SPARK_NICENESS=0
+fi
+
+if [ "$SPARK_MASTER" != "" ]; then
+  echo rsync from "$SPARK_MASTER"
+  rsync -a -e ssh --delete --exclude=.svn --exclude='logs/*' --exclude='contrib/hod/logs/*' "$SPARK_MASTER/" "${SPARK_HOME}"
+fi
+
+spark_rotate_log "$log"
+echo "running $command, logging to $log"
+
+case "$mode" in
+  (start)
+    exec nice -n "$SPARK_NICENESS" "${SPARK_HOME}"/bin/spark-class $command "$@" >> "$log" 2>&1 < /dev/null
+    ;;
+
+  (submit)
+    exec nice -n "$SPARK_NICENESS" "${SPARK_HOME}"/bin/spark-submit --class $command "$@" >> "$log" 2>&1 < /dev/null
+    ;;
+
+  (*)
+    echo "unknown mode: $mode"
+    exit 1
+    ;;
+esac
diff --git a/sbin/spark-daemon.sh b/sbin/spark-daemon.sh
index 59823571124f..75bc6994409d 100755
--- a/sbin/spark-daemon.sh
+++ b/sbin/spark-daemon.sh
@@ -66,26 +66,7 @@ fi
 option=$1
 shift
 command=$1
-shift
-instance=$1
-shift
-
-spark_rotate_log ()
-{
-    log=$1;
-    num=5;
-    if [ -n "$2" ]; then
-	num=$2
-    fi
-    if [ -f "$log" ]; then # rotate logs
-	while [ $num -gt 1 ]; do
-	    prev=`expr $num - 1`
-	    [ -f "$log.$prev" ] && mv "$log.$prev" "$log.$num"
-	    num=$prev
-	done
-	mv "$log" "$log.$num";
-    fi
-}
+instance=$2
 
 . "${SPARK_HOME}/bin/load-spark-env.sh"
 
@@ -100,14 +81,6 @@ export SPARK_PRINT_LAUNCH_COMMAND="1"
 if [ "$SPARK_LOG_DIR" = "" ]; then
   export SPARK_LOG_DIR="${SPARK_HOME}/logs"
 fi
-mkdir -p "$SPARK_LOG_DIR"
-touch "$SPARK_LOG_DIR"/.spark_test > /dev/null 2>&1
-TEST_LOG_DIR=$?
-if [ "${TEST_LOG_DIR}" = "0" ]; then
-  rm -f "$SPARK_LOG_DIR"/.spark_test
-else
-  chown "$SPARK_IDENT_STRING" "$SPARK_LOG_DIR"
-fi
 
 if [ "$SPARK_PID_DIR" = "" ]; then
   SPARK_PID_DIR=/tmp
@@ -115,16 +88,9 @@ fi
 
 # some variables
 log="$SPARK_LOG_DIR/spark-$SPARK_IDENT_STRING-$command-$instance-$HOSTNAME.out"
-pid="$SPARK_PID_DIR/spark-$SPARK_IDENT_STRING-$command-$instance.pid"
-
-# Set default scheduling priority
-if [ "$SPARK_NICENESS" = "" ]; then
-    export SPARK_NICENESS=0
-fi
+pid="$SPARK_PID_DIR/spark-$SPARK_IDENT_STRING-$command-$instance-$HOSTNAME.pid"
 
 run_command() {
-  mode="$1"
-  shift
 
   mkdir -p "$SPARK_PID_DIR"
 
@@ -136,33 +102,12 @@ run_command() {
     fi
   fi
 
-  if [ "$SPARK_MASTER" != "" ]; then
-    echo rsync from "$SPARK_MASTER"
-    rsync -a -e ssh --delete --exclude=.svn --exclude='logs/*' --exclude='contrib/hod/logs/*' "$SPARK_MASTER/" "${SPARK_HOME}"
-  fi
-
-  spark_rotate_log "$log"
-  echo "starting $command, logging to $log"
-
-  case "$mode" in
-    (class)
-      nohup nice -n "$SPARK_NICENESS" "${SPARK_HOME}"/bin/spark-class $command "$@" >> "$log" 2>&1 < /dev/null &
-      newpid="$!"
-      ;;
 
-    (submit)
-      nohup nice -n "$SPARK_NICENESS" "${SPARK_HOME}"/bin/spark-submit --class $command "$@" >> "$log" 2>&1 < /dev/null &
-      newpid="$!"
-      ;;
-
-    (*)
-      echo "unknown mode: $mode"
-      exit 1
-      ;;
-  esac
+  nohup "${SPARK_HOME}"/sbin/spark-daemon-run.sh "$@" >/dev/null </dev/null 2>/dev/null &
+  newpid="$!"
 
   echo "$newpid" > "$pid"
-  
+
   #Poll for up to 5 seconds for the java process to start
   for i in {1..10}
   do
@@ -183,12 +128,8 @@ run_command() {
 
 case $option in
 
-  (submit)
-    run_command submit "$@"
-    ;;
-
-  (start)
-    run_command class "$@"
+  (submit|start)
+    run_command $option "$@"
     ;;
 
   (stop)
@@ -229,5 +170,3 @@ case $option in
     ;;
 
 esac
-
-
diff --git a/sbin/start-master.sh b/sbin/start-master.sh
index 981cb15bc000..3e1f5a0df9a3 100755
--- a/sbin/start-master.sh
+++ b/sbin/start-master.sh
@@ -55,6 +55,18 @@ if [ "$SPARK_MASTER_WEBUI_PORT" = "" ]; then
   SPARK_MASTER_WEBUI_PORT=8080
 fi
 
-"${SPARK_HOME}/sbin"/spark-daemon.sh start $CLASS 1 \
+case "$(basename $0 .sh)" in
+    (start-master)
+        execname=spark-daemon
+        ;;
+    (run-master)
+        execname=spark-daemon-run
+        ;;
+    (*)
+        echo "bad command $0"
+        exit 1
+esac
+
+"${SPARK_HOME}/sbin"/$execname.sh start $CLASS 1 \
   --host $SPARK_MASTER_HOST --port $SPARK_MASTER_PORT --webui-port $SPARK_MASTER_WEBUI_PORT \
   $ORIGINAL_ARGS
diff --git a/sbin/start-slave.sh b/sbin/start-slave.sh
index 8c268b885915..c958e556918b 100755
--- a/sbin/start-slave.sh
+++ b/sbin/start-slave.sh
@@ -63,6 +63,19 @@ if [ "$SPARK_WORKER_WEBUI_PORT" = "" ]; then
   SPARK_WORKER_WEBUI_PORT=8081
 fi
 
+# decide which shell to call
+case "$(basename $0 .sh)" in
+    (start-slave)
+        execname=spark-daemon
+        ;;
+    (run-slave)
+        execname=spark-daemon-run
+        ;;
+    (*)
+        echo "bad command $0"
+        exit 1
+esac
+
 # Start up the appropriate number of workers on this machine.
 # quick local function to start a worker
 function start_instance {
@@ -78,7 +91,7 @@ function start_instance {
   fi
   WEBUI_PORT=$(( $SPARK_WORKER_WEBUI_PORT + $WORKER_NUM - 1 ))
 
-  "${SPARK_HOME}/sbin"/spark-daemon.sh start $CLASS $WORKER_NUM \
+  "${SPARK_HOME}/sbin"/$execname.sh start $CLASS $WORKER_NUM \
      --webui-port "$WEBUI_PORT" $PORT_FLAG $PORT_NUM $MASTER "$@"
 }