diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
index b1c6a90d182f6..7106b9dcf29e0 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
@@ -450,7 +450,6 @@ class SparkContext(config: SparkConf) extends Logging with ExecutorAllocationCli
     Option(localProperties.get).map(_.getProperty(key)).getOrElse(null)
 
   /** Set a human readable description of the current job. */
-  @deprecated("use setJobGroup", "0.8.1")
   def setJobDescription(value: String) {
     setLocalProperty(SparkContext.SPARK_JOB_DESCRIPTION, value)
   }
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/AbstractSparkSQLDriver.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/AbstractSparkSQLDriver.scala
index 6ed8fd2768f95..d3b474579a37b 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/AbstractSparkSQLDriver.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/AbstractSparkSQLDriver.scala
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ private[hive] abstract class AbstractSparkSQLDriver(
   override def run(command: String): CommandProcessorResponse = {
     // TODO unify the error code
     try {
+      context.sparkContext.setJobDescription(command)
       val execution = context.executePlan(context.sql(command).logicalPlan)
       hiveResponse = execution.stringResult()
       tableSchema = getResultSetSchema(execution)
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/v0.12.0/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/Shim12.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/v0.12.0/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/Shim12.scala
index 5550183621fb6..e01fc37d2e3f3 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/v0.12.0/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/Shim12.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/v0.12.0/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/Shim12.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import java.util.{ArrayList => JArrayList, Map => JMap}
 
 import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
 import scala.collection.mutable.{ArrayBuffer, Map => SMap}
-import scala.math._
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.common.`type`.HiveDecimal
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.FieldSchema
@@ -195,9 +194,7 @@ private[hive] class SparkExecuteStatementOperation(
           logInfo(s"Setting spark.scheduler.pool=$value for future statements in this session.")
         case _ =>
       }
-
-      val groupId = round(random * 1000000).toString
-      hiveContext.sparkContext.setJobGroup(groupId, statement)
+      hiveContext.sparkContext.setJobDescription(statement)
       sessionToActivePool.get(parentSession.getSessionHandle).foreach { pool =>
         hiveContext.sparkContext.setLocalProperty("spark.scheduler.pool", pool)
       }
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/v0.13.1/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/Shim13.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/v0.13.1/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/Shim13.scala
index 798a690a20427..5b26f8a06b1fd 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/v0.13.1/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/Shim13.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/v0.13.1/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/Shim13.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import java.util.{ArrayList => JArrayList, List => JList, Map => JMap}
 
 import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
 import scala.collection.mutable.{ArrayBuffer, Map => SMap}
-import scala.math._
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.FieldSchema
 import org.apache.hadoop.security.UserGroupInformation
@@ -166,9 +165,7 @@ private[hive] class SparkExecuteStatementOperation(
           logInfo(s"Setting spark.scheduler.pool=$value for future statements in this session.")
         case _ =>
       }
-
-      val groupId = round(random * 1000000).toString
-      hiveContext.sparkContext.setJobGroup(groupId, statement)
+      hiveContext.sparkContext.setJobDescription(statement)
       sessionToActivePool.get(parentSession.getSessionHandle).foreach { pool =>
         hiveContext.sparkContext.setLocalProperty("spark.scheduler.pool", pool)
       }