diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProvider.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProvider.scala
index dfc1aad64c818..72b50540ccfd8 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProvider.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProvider.scala
@@ -640,9 +640,9 @@ private[history] class FsHistoryProvider(conf: SparkConf, clock: Clock)
       false
   }
 
-  // For testing.
   private[history] def isFsInSafeMode(dfs: DistributedFileSystem): Boolean = {
-    dfs.setSafeMode(HdfsConstants.SafeModeAction.SAFEMODE_GET)
+    /* true to check only for Active NNs status */
+    dfs.setSafeMode(HdfsConstants.SafeModeAction.SAFEMODE_GET, true)
   }
 
   /**