diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveSessionCatalog.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveSessionCatalog.scala
index b256ffc27b199..1f11adbd4f62e 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveSessionCatalog.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveSessionCatalog.scala
@@ -94,8 +94,15 @@ private[sql] class HiveSessionCatalog(
         }
       } catch {
         case NonFatal(e) =>
-          val analysisException =
-            new AnalysisException(s"No handler for UDF/UDAF/UDTF '${clazz.getCanonicalName}': $e")
+          val noHandlerMsg = s"No handler for UDF/UDAF/UDTF '${clazz.getCanonicalName}': $e"
+          val errorMsg =
+            if (classOf[GenericUDTF].isAssignableFrom(clazz)) {
+              s"$noHandlerMsg\nPlease make sure your function overrides " +
+                "`public StructObjectInspector initialize(ObjectInspector[] args)`."
+            } else {
+              noHandlerMsg
+            }
+          val analysisException = new AnalysisException(errorMsg)
           analysisException.setStackTrace(e.getStackTrace)
           throw analysisException
       }
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/resources/SPARK-21101-1.0.jar b/sql/hive/src/test/resources/SPARK-21101-1.0.jar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..768b2334db5c3
Binary files /dev/null and b/sql/hive/src/test/resources/SPARK-21101-1.0.jar differ
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
index 60935c3e85c43..a2e4b53686b07 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
@@ -1998,6 +1998,32 @@ class SQLQuerySuite extends QueryTest with SQLTestUtils with TestHiveSingleton {
     }
   }
 
+  test("SPARK-21101 UDTF should override initialize(ObjectInspector[] args)") {
+    withUserDefinedFunction("udtf_stack1" -> true, "udtf_stack2" -> true) {
+      sql(
+        s"""
+           |CREATE TEMPORARY FUNCTION udtf_stack1
+           |AS 'org.apache.spark.sql.hive.execution.UDTFStack'
+           |USING JAR '${hiveContext.getHiveFile("SPARK-21101-1.0.jar").toURI}'
+        """.stripMargin)
+      val cnt =
+        sql("SELECT udtf_stack1(2, 'A', 10, date '2015-01-01', 'B', 20, date '2016-01-01')").count()
+      assert(cnt === 2)
+
+      sql(
+        s"""
+           |CREATE TEMPORARY FUNCTION udtf_stack2
+           |AS 'org.apache.spark.sql.hive.execution.UDTFStack2'
+           |USING JAR '${hiveContext.getHiveFile("SPARK-21101-1.0.jar").toURI}'
+        """.stripMargin)
+      val e = intercept[org.apache.spark.sql.AnalysisException] {
+        sql("SELECT udtf_stack2(2, 'A', 10, date '2015-01-01', 'B', 20, date '2016-01-01')")
+      }
+      assert(
+        e.getMessage.contains("public StructObjectInspector initialize(ObjectInspector[] args)"))
+    }
+  }
+
   test("SPARK-21721: Clear FileSystem deleterOnExit cache if path is successfully removed") {
     val table = "test21721"
     withTable(table) {