diff --git a/external/kafka-0-10/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/ConsumerStrategy.scala b/external/kafka-0-10/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/ConsumerStrategy.scala
index 60255fc655e5f..778c06ea16a2b 100644
--- a/external/kafka-0-10/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/ConsumerStrategy.scala
+++ b/external/kafka-0-10/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/ConsumerStrategy.scala
@@ -104,6 +104,8 @@ private case class Subscribe[K, V](
       toSeek.asScala.foreach { case (topicPartition, offset) =>
           consumer.seek(topicPartition, offset)
       }
+      // we've called poll, we must pause or next poll may consume messages and set position
+      consumer.pause(consumer.assignment())
     }
 
     consumer
@@ -154,6 +156,8 @@ private case class SubscribePattern[K, V](
       toSeek.asScala.foreach { case (topicPartition, offset) =>
           consumer.seek(topicPartition, offset)
       }
+      // we've called poll, we must pause or next poll may consume messages and set position
+      consumer.pause(consumer.assignment())
     }
 
     consumer
diff --git a/external/kafka-0-10/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/DirectKafkaInputDStream.scala b/external/kafka-0-10/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/DirectKafkaInputDStream.scala
index 13827f68f2cb5..432537ebf05b2 100644
--- a/external/kafka-0-10/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/DirectKafkaInputDStream.scala
+++ b/external/kafka-0-10/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/DirectKafkaInputDStream.scala
@@ -161,12 +161,31 @@ private[spark] class DirectKafkaInputDStream[K, V](
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * The concern here is that poll might consume messages despite being paused,
+   * which would throw off consumer position.  Fix position if this happens.
+   */
+  private def paranoidPoll(c: Consumer[K, V]): Unit = {
+    val msgs = c.poll(0)
+    if (!msgs.isEmpty) {
+      // position should be minimum offset per topicpartition
+      msgs.asScala.foldLeft(Map[TopicPartition, Long]()) { (acc, m) =>
+        val tp = new TopicPartition(m.topic, m.partition)
+        val off = acc.get(tp).map(o => Math.min(o, m.offset)).getOrElse(m.offset)
+        acc + (tp -> off)
+      }.foreach { case (tp, off) =>
+          logInfo(s"poll(0) returned messages, seeking $tp to $off to compensate")
+          c.seek(tp, off)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns the latest (highest) available offsets, taking new partitions into account.
    */
   protected def latestOffsets(): Map[TopicPartition, Long] = {
     val c = consumer
-    c.poll(0)
+    paranoidPoll(c)
     val parts = c.assignment().asScala
 
     // make sure new partitions are reflected in currentOffsets
@@ -223,7 +242,7 @@ private[spark] class DirectKafkaInputDStream[K, V](
 
   override def start(): Unit = {
     val c = consumer
-    c.poll(0)
+    paranoidPoll(c)
     if (currentOffsets.isEmpty) {
       currentOffsets = c.assignment().asScala.map { tp =>
         tp -> c.position(tp)
diff --git a/external/kafka-0-10/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/DirectKafkaStreamSuite.scala b/external/kafka-0-10/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/DirectKafkaStreamSuite.scala
index e04f35eceb1b4..02aec43c3b34f 100644
--- a/external/kafka-0-10/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/DirectKafkaStreamSuite.scala
+++ b/external/kafka-0-10/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/kafka010/DirectKafkaStreamSuite.scala
@@ -159,17 +159,19 @@ class DirectKafkaStreamSuite
   }
 
   test("pattern based subscription") {
-    val topics = List("pat1", "pat2", "advanced3")
-    // Should match 2 out of 3 topics
+    val topics = List("pat1", "pat2", "pat3", "advanced3")
+    // Should match 3 out of 4 topics
     val pat = """pat\d""".r.pattern
     val data = Map("a" -> 7, "b" -> 9)
     topics.foreach { t =>
       kafkaTestUtils.createTopic(t)
       kafkaTestUtils.sendMessages(t, data)
     }
-    val offsets = Map(new TopicPartition("pat2", 0) -> 3L)
-    // 2 matching topics, one of which starts 3 messages later
-    val expectedTotal = (data.values.sum * 2) - 3
+    val offsets = Map(
+      new TopicPartition("pat2", 0) -> 3L,
+      new TopicPartition("pat3", 0) -> 4L)
+    // 3 matching topics, two of which start a total of 7 messages later
+    val expectedTotal = (data.values.sum * 3) - 7
     val kafkaParams = getKafkaParams("auto.offset.reset" -> "earliest")
 
     ssc = new StreamingContext(sparkConf, Milliseconds(1000))