diff --git a/.rat-excludes b/.rat-excludes
index a788e8273d8a2..8c61e67a0c7d1 100644
--- a/.rat-excludes
+++ b/.rat-excludes
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ fairscheduler.xml.template
 spark-defaults.conf.template
 log4j.properties
 log4j.properties.template
+metrics.properties
 metrics.properties.template
 slaves
 slaves.template
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsConfig.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsConfig.scala
index 1b7a5d1f1980a..8edf493780687 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsConfig.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsConfig.scala
@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@ import org.apache.spark.util.Utils
 
 private[spark] class MetricsConfig(val configFile: Option[String]) extends Logging {
 
-  val DEFAULT_PREFIX = "*"
-  val INSTANCE_REGEX = "^(\\*|[a-zA-Z]+)\\.(.+)".r
-  val METRICS_CONF = "metrics.properties"
+  private val DEFAULT_PREFIX = "*"
+  private val INSTANCE_REGEX = "^(\\*|[a-zA-Z]+)\\.(.+)".r
+  private val DEFAULT_METRICS_CONF_FILENAME = "metrics.properties"
 
-  val properties = new Properties()
-  var propertyCategories: mutable.HashMap[String, Properties] = null
+  private[metrics] val properties = new Properties()
+  private[metrics] var propertyCategories: mutable.HashMap[String, Properties] = null
 
   private def setDefaultProperties(prop: Properties) {
     prop.setProperty("*.sink.servlet.class", "org.apache.spark.metrics.sink.MetricsServlet")
@@ -47,20 +47,22 @@ private[spark] class MetricsConfig(val configFile: Option[String]) extends Loggi
     setDefaultProperties(properties)
 
     // If spark.metrics.conf is not set, try to get file in class path
-    var is: InputStream = null
-    try {
-      is = configFile match {
-        case Some(f) => new FileInputStream(f)
-        case None => Utils.getSparkClassLoader.getResourceAsStream(METRICS_CONF)
+    val isOpt: Option[InputStream] = configFile.map(new FileInputStream(_)).orElse {
+      try {
+        Option(Utils.getSparkClassLoader.getResourceAsStream(DEFAULT_METRICS_CONF_FILENAME))
+      } catch {
+        case e: Exception =>
+          logError("Error loading default configuration file", e)
+          None
       }
+    }
 
-      if (is != null) {
+    isOpt.foreach { is =>
+      try {
         properties.load(is)
+      } finally {
+        is.close()
       }
-    } catch {
-      case e: Exception => logError("Error loading configure file", e)
-    } finally {
-      if (is != null) is.close()
     }
 
     propertyCategories = subProperties(properties, INSTANCE_REGEX)
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsSystem.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsSystem.scala
index 83e8eb71260eb..345db36630fd5 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsSystem.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsSystem.scala
@@ -191,7 +191,10 @@ private[spark] class MetricsSystem private (
             sinks += sink.asInstanceOf[Sink]
           }
         } catch {
-          case e: Exception => logError("Sink class " + classPath + " cannot be instantialized", e)
+          case e: Exception => {
+            logError("Sink class " + classPath + " cannot be instantialized")
+            throw e
+          }
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/core/src/test/resources/test_metrics_system.properties b/core/src/test/resources/test_metrics_system.properties
index 35d0bd3b8d0b8..4e8b8465696e5 100644
--- a/core/src/test/resources/test_metrics_system.properties
+++ b/core/src/test/resources/test_metrics_system.properties
@@ -18,7 +18,5 @@
 *.sink.console.period = 10
 *.sink.console.unit = seconds
 test.sink.console.class = org.apache.spark.metrics.sink.ConsoleSink
-test.sink.dummy.class = org.apache.spark.metrics.sink.DummySink
-test.source.dummy.class = org.apache.spark.metrics.source.DummySource
 test.sink.console.period = 20
 test.sink.console.unit = minutes
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsConfigSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsConfigSuite.scala
index 1a9ce8c607dcd..37e528435aa5d 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsConfigSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/metrics/MetricsConfigSuite.scala
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class MetricsConfigSuite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfter {
   }
 
   test("MetricsConfig with default properties") {
-    val conf = new MetricsConfig(Option("dummy-file"))
+    val conf = new MetricsConfig(None)
     conf.initialize()
 
     assert(conf.properties.size() === 4)