diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/dstream/InputDStream.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/dstream/InputDStream.scala
index 8aad39dacca3f..a6c4cd220e42f 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/dstream/InputDStream.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/dstream/InputDStream.scala
@@ -50,12 +50,7 @@ abstract class InputDStream[T: ClassTag] (@transient ssc_ : StreamingContext)
   val id = ssc.getNewInputStreamId()
 
   // Keep track of the freshest rate for this stream using the rateEstimator
-  protected[streaming] val rateController: Option[RateController] =
-    RateEstimator.makeEstimator(ssc.conf).map { estimator =>
-      new RateController(id, estimator) {
-        override def publish(rate: Long): Unit = ()
-      }
-    }
+  protected[streaming] val rateController: Option[RateController] = None
 
   /** A human-readable name of this InputDStream */
   private[streaming] def name: String = {
diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/dstream/ReceiverInputDStream.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/dstream/ReceiverInputDStream.scala
index 5b4df67d9ce11..e79ba5018d9fd 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/dstream/ReceiverInputDStream.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/dstream/ReceiverInputDStream.scala
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ abstract class ReceiverInputDStream[T: ClassTag](@transient ssc_ : StreamingCont
    * Asynchronously maintains & sends new rate limits to the receiver through the receiver tracker.
    */
   override protected[streaming] val rateController: Option[RateController] =
-    RateEstimator.makeEstimator(ssc.conf).map { new ReceiverRateController(id, _) }
+    RateEstimator.create(ssc.conf).map { new ReceiverRateController(id, _) }
 
   /**
    * Gets the receiver object that will be sent to the worker nodes
diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/JobScheduler.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/JobScheduler.scala
index 4aed1aa1d92d2..58bdda7794bf2 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/JobScheduler.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/JobScheduler.scala
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ class JobScheduler(val ssc: StreamingContext) extends Logging {
     }
     eventLoop.start()
 
-    // Estimators receive updates from batch completion
+    // attach rate controllers of input streams to receive batch completion updates
     for {
       inputDStream <- ssc.graph.getInputStreams
       rateController <- inputDStream.rateController
diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/RateController.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/RateController.scala
index 0fea6838da032..f1e75da1644f3 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/RateController.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/RateController.scala
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong
 
 import scala.concurrent.{ExecutionContext, Future}
 
+import org.apache.spark.SparkConf
+import org.apache.spark.annotation.DeveloperApi
 import org.apache.spark.streaming.scheduler.rate.RateEstimator
 import org.apache.spark.util.ThreadUtils
 
@@ -29,8 +31,8 @@ import org.apache.spark.util.ThreadUtils
  * an estimate of the speed at which this stream should ingest messages,
  * given an estimate computation from a `RateEstimator`
  */
-private [streaming] abstract class RateController(val streamUID: Int, rateEstimator: RateEstimator)
-  extends StreamingListener with Serializable {
+private[streaming] abstract class RateController(val streamUID: Int, rateEstimator: RateEstimator)
+    extends StreamingListener with Serializable {
 
   protected def publish(rate: Long): Unit
 
@@ -46,8 +48,8 @@ private [streaming] abstract class RateController(val streamUID: Int, rateEstima
    */
   private def computeAndPublish(time: Long, elems: Long, workDelay: Long, waitDelay: Long): Unit =
     Future[Unit] {
-      val newSpeed = rateEstimator.compute(time, elems, workDelay, waitDelay)
-      newSpeed foreach { s =>
+      val newRate = rateEstimator.compute(time, elems, workDelay, waitDelay)
+      newRate.foreach { s =>
         rateLimit.set(s.toLong)
         publish(getLatestRate())
       }
diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/rate/RateEstimator.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/rate/RateEstimator.scala
index 592d173e99bdc..a08685119e5d5 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/rate/RateEstimator.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/rate/RateEstimator.scala
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ object RateEstimator {
    * @throws IllegalArgumentException if there is a configured RateEstimator that doesn't match any
    *         known estimators.
    */
-  def makeEstimator(conf: SparkConf): Option[RateEstimator] =
-    conf.getOption("spark.streaming.RateEstimator") map { estimator =>
+  def create(conf: SparkConf): Option[RateEstimator] =
+    conf.getOption("spark.streaming.backpressure.rateEstimator").map { estimator =>
       throw new IllegalArgumentException(s"Unkown rate estimator: $estimator")
     }
 }
diff --git a/streaming/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/ReceiverTrackerSuite.scala b/streaming/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/ReceiverTrackerSuite.scala
index 8457aa78de5f9..3136cba8b4f63 100644
--- a/streaming/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/ReceiverTrackerSuite.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/scheduler/ReceiverTrackerSuite.scala
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ class ReceiverTrackerSuite extends TestSuiteBase {
 
     ssc.addStreamingListener(ReceiverStartedWaiter)
     ssc.scheduler.listenerBus.start(ssc.sc)
+    SingletonDummyReceiver.reset()
 
     val newRateLimit = 100L
     val inputDStream = new RateLimitInputDStream(ssc)
@@ -109,7 +110,14 @@ class ReceiverTrackerSuite extends TestSuiteBase {
   }
 }
 
-/** An input DStream with a hard-coded receiver that gives access to internals for testing. */
+/**
+ * An input DStream with a hard-coded receiver that gives access to internals for testing.
+ *
+ * @note Make sure to call {{{SingletonDummyReceiver.reset()}}} before using this in a test,
+ *       or otherwise you may get {{{NotSerializableException}}} when trying to serialize
+ *       the receiver.
+ * @see [[[SingletonDummyReceiver]]].
+ */
 private class RateLimitInputDStream(@transient ssc_ : StreamingContext)
   extends ReceiverInputDStream[Int](ssc_) {