diff --git a/dev/run-tests b/dev/run-tests
index 20a67cfb361b9..d751961605dfd 100755
--- a/dev/run-tests
+++ b/dev/run-tests
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ JAVA_VERSION=$($java_cmd -version 2>&1 | sed 's/java version "\(.*\)\.\(.*\)\..*
 # Partial solution for SPARK-1455. Only run Hive tests if there are sql changes.
 if [ -n "$AMPLAB_JENKINS" ]; then
   git fetch origin master:master
-  diffs=`git diff --name-only master | grep "^sql/"`
+  diffs=`git diff --name-only master | grep "^\(sql/\)\|\(bin/spark-sql\)\|\(sbin/start-thriftserver.sh\)"`
   if [ -n "$diffs" ]; then
     echo "Detected changes in SQL. Will run Hive test suite."
     _RUN_SQL_TESTS=true
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/CliSuite.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/CliSuite.scala
index 2bf8cfdcacd22..70bea1ed80fda 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/CliSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/CliSuite.scala
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class CliSuite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with TestUtils {
     val commands =
       s"""../../bin/spark-sql
          |  --master local
-         |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.METASTORECONNECTURLKEY}="$jdbcUrl"
+         |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.METASTORECONNECTURLKEY}=$jdbcUrl
          |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.METASTOREWAREHOUSE}=$WAREHOUSE_PATH
        """.stripMargin.split("\\s+")
 
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
index aedef6ce1f5f2..326b0a7275b34 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
@@ -51,9 +51,6 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with TestUt
     port
   }
 
-  // If verbose is true, the test program will print all outputs coming from the Hive Thrift server.
-  val VERBOSE = Option(System.getenv("SPARK_SQL_TEST_VERBOSE")).getOrElse("false").toBoolean
-
   Class.forName(DRIVER_NAME)
 
   override def beforeAll() { launchServer() }
@@ -68,8 +65,7 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with TestUt
     val command =
       s"""../../sbin/start-thriftserver.sh
          |  --master local
-         |  --hiveconf hive.root.logger=INFO,console
-         |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.METASTORECONNECTURLKEY}="$jdbcUrl"
+         |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.METASTORECONNECTURLKEY}=$jdbcUrl
          |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.METASTOREWAREHOUSE}=$METASTORE_PATH
          |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.HIVE_SERVER2_THRIFT_BIND_HOST}=$HOST
          |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.HIVE_SERVER2_THRIFT_PORT}=$PORT
@@ -77,12 +73,10 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with TestUt
 
     val pb = new ProcessBuilder(command ++ args: _*)
     val environment = pb.environment()
-    environment.put("HIVE_SERVER2_THRIFT_PORT", PORT.toString)
-    environment.put("HIVE_SERVER2_THRIFT_BIND_HOST", HOST)
     process = pb.start()
     inputReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream))
     errorReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getErrorStream))
-    waitForOutput(inputReader, "ThriftBinaryCLIService listening on")
+    waitForOutput(inputReader, "ThriftBinaryCLIService listening on", 300000)
 
     // Spawn a thread to read the output from the forked process.
     // Note that this is necessary since in some configurations, log4j could be blocked
@@ -91,12 +85,8 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with TestUt
       while (true) {
         val stdout = readFrom(inputReader)
         val stderr = readFrom(errorReader)
-        if (VERBOSE && stdout.length > 0) {
-          println(stdout)
-        }
-        if (VERBOSE && stderr.length > 0) {
-          println(stderr)
-        }
+        print(stdout)
+        print(stderr)
         Thread.sleep(50)
       }
     }