diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaPairRDD.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaPairRDD.scala
index 4c8f9ed6fbc02..b1058c3c35f5f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaPairRDD.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaPairRDD.scala
@@ -672,38 +672,102 @@ class JavaPairRDD[K, V](val rdd: RDD[(K, V)])
 
   /**
    * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD.
+   *
    * The accuracy of approximation can be controlled through the relative standard deviation
    * (relativeSD) parameter, which also controls the amount of memory used. Lower values result in
    * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. Uses the provided
    * Partitioner to partition the output RDD.
+   *
+   * @param p The precision value for the normal set.
+   *          <code>p</code> must be a value between 4 and <code>sp</code> (32 max).
+   * @param sp The precision value for the sparse set, between 0 and 32.
+   *           If <code>sp</code> equals 0, the sparse representation is skipped.
+   * @param partitioner Partitioner to use for the resulting RDD.
    */
-  def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double, partitioner: Partitioner): JavaRDD[(K, Long)] = {
-    rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD, partitioner)
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(p: Int, sp: Int, partitioner: Partitioner): JavaPairRDD[K, Long] = {
+    fromRDD(rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(p, sp, partitioner))
   }
 
   /**
-   * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key this RDD.
+   * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD.
+   *
    * The accuracy of approximation can be controlled through the relative standard deviation
    * (relativeSD) parameter, which also controls the amount of memory used. Lower values result in
-   * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. The default value of
-   * relativeSD is 0.05. Hash-partitions the output RDD using the existing partitioner/parallelism
-   * level.
+   * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. Uses the provided
+   * Partitioner to partition the output RDD.
+   *
+   * @param p The precision value for the normal set.
+   *          <code>p</code> must be a value between 4 and <code>sp</code> (32 max).
+   * @param sp The precision value for the sparse set, between 0 and 32.
+   *           If <code>sp</code> equals 0, the sparse representation is skipped.
+   * @param numPartitions The number of partitions in the resulting RDD.
    */
-  def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double = 0.05): JavaRDD[(K, Long)] = {
-    rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD)
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(p: Int, sp: Int, numPartitions: Int): JavaPairRDD[K, Long] = {
+    fromRDD(rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(p, sp, numPartitions))
   }
 
-
   /**
    * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD.
+   *
+   * The accuracy of approximation can be controlled through the relative standard deviation
+   * (relativeSD) parameter, which also controls the amount of memory used. Lower values result in
+   * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. Uses the provided
+   * Partitioner to partition the output RDD.
+   *
+   * @param p The precision value for the normal set.
+   *          <code>p</code> must be a value between 4 and <code>sp</code> (32 max).
+   * @param sp The precision value for the sparse set, between 0 and 32.
+   *           If <code>sp</code> equals 0, the sparse representation is skipped.
+   */
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(p: Int, sp: Int): JavaPairRDD[K, Long] = {
+    fromRDD(rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(p, sp))
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD. This is deprecated.
+   * Use the variant with <code>p</code> and <code>sp</code> parameters instead.
+   *
    * The accuracy of approximation can be controlled through the relative standard deviation
    * (relativeSD) parameter, which also controls the amount of memory used. Lower values result in
-   * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. HashPartitions the
-   * output RDD into numPartitions.
+   * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. Uses the provided
+   * Partitioner to partition the output RDD.
+   */
+  @Deprecated
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double, partitioner: Partitioner): JavaPairRDD[K, Long] =
+  {
+    fromRDD(rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD, partitioner))
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD. This is deprecated.
+   * Use the variant with <code>p</code> and <code>sp</code> parameters instead.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
+   *
+   * @param relativeSD The relative standard deviation for the counter.
+   *                   Smaller values create counters that require more space.
+   */
+  @Deprecated
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double, numPartitions: Int): JavaPairRDD[K, Long] = {
+    fromRDD(rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD, numPartitions))
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD. This is deprecated.
+   * Use the variant with <code>p</code> and <code>sp</code> parameters instead.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
    *
+   * @param relativeSD The relative standard deviation for the counter.
+   *                   Smaller values create counters that require more space.
    */
-  def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double, numPartitions: Int): JavaRDD[(K, Long)] = {
-    rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD, numPartitions)
+  @Deprecated
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double): JavaPairRDD[K, Long] = {
+    fromRDD(rdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD))
   }
 
   /** Assign a name to this RDD */
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaRDDLike.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaRDDLike.scala
index 619bfd75be8eb..080bb6ea677a4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaRDDLike.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaRDDLike.scala
@@ -564,8 +564,33 @@ trait JavaRDDLike[T, This <: JavaRDDLike[T, This]] extends Serializable {
    * (relativeSD) parameter, which also controls the amount of memory used. Lower values result in
    * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. The default value of
    * relativeSD is 0.05.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
+   *
+   * @param p The precision value for the normal set.
+   *          <code>p</code> must be a value between 4 and <code>sp</code>.
+   * @param sp The precision value for the sparse set, between 0 and 32.
+   *           If <code>sp</code> equals 0, the sparse representation is skipped.
+   */
+  def countApproxDistinct(p: Int, sp: Int): Long = rdd.countApproxDistinct(p, sp)
+
+  /**
+   * Return approximate number of distinct elements in the RDD. This is deprecated. Use the
+   * variant with <code>p</code> and <code>sp</code> parameters instead.
+   *
+   * The accuracy of approximation can be controlled through the relative standard deviation
+   * (relativeSD) parameter, which also controls the amount of memory used. Lower values result in
+   * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. The default value of
+   * relativeSD is 0.05.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
    */
-  def countApproxDistinct(relativeSD: Double = 0.05): Long = rdd.countApproxDistinct(relativeSD)
+  @Deprecated
+  def countApproxDistinct(relativeSD: Double): Long = rdd.countApproxDistinct(relativeSD)
 
   def name(): String = rdd.name
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/PairRDDFunctions.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/PairRDDFunctions.scala
index 0f3eedb0a8aac..1d95d5bdd45b4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/PairRDDFunctions.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/PairRDDFunctions.scala
@@ -213,20 +213,24 @@ class PairRDDFunctions[K, V](self: RDD[(K, V)])
   }
 
   /**
+   * :: Experimental ::
+   *
    * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD.
-   * The accuracy of approximation can be controlled through the relative standard deviation
-   * (relativeSD) parameter, which also controls the amount of memory used. Lower values result in
-   * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vice versa. Uses the provided
-   * [[Partitioner]] to partition the output RDD.
    *
    * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
    * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
    * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
+   *
+   * @param p The precision value for the normal set.
+   *          <code>p</code> must be a value between 4 and <code>sp</code> (32 max).
+   * @param sp The precision value for the sparse set, between 0 and 32.
+   *           If <code>sp</code> equals 0, the sparse representation is skipped.
+   * @param partitioner Partitioner to use for the resulting RDD.
    */
-  def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double, partitioner: Partitioner): RDD[(K, Long)] = {
-    val precision = (math.log((1.106 / relativeSD) * (1.106 / relativeSD)) / math.log(2)).toInt
+  @Experimental
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(p: Int, sp: Int, partitioner: Partitioner): RDD[(K, Long)] = {
     val createHLL = (v: V) => {
-      val hll = new HyperLogLogPlus(precision)
+      val hll = new HyperLogLogPlus(p, sp)
       hll.offer(v)
       hll
     }
@@ -242,6 +246,63 @@ class PairRDDFunctions[K, V](self: RDD[(K, V)])
     combineByKey(createHLL, mergeValueHLL, mergeHLL, partitioner).mapValues(_.cardinality())
   }
 
+  /**
+   * :: Experimental ::
+   *
+   * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
+   *
+   * @param p The precision value for the normal set.
+   *          <code>p</code> must be a value between 4 and <code>sp</code> (32 max).
+   * @param sp The precision value for the sparse set, between 0 and 32.
+   *           If <code>sp</code> equals 0, the sparse representation is skipped.
+   * @param numPartitions Number of partitions in the resulting RDD.
+   */
+  @Experimental
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(p: Int, sp: Int, numPartitions: Int): RDD[(K, Long)] = {
+    countApproxDistinctByKey(p, sp, new HashPartitioner(numPartitions))
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * :: Experimental ::
+   *
+   * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
+   *
+   * @param p The precision value for the normal set.
+   *          <code>p</code> must be a value between 4 and <code>sp</code> (32 max).
+   * @param sp The precision value for the sparse set, between 0 and 32.
+   *           If <code>sp</code> equals 0, the sparse representation is skipped.
+   */
+  @Experimental
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(p: Int, sp: Int): RDD[(K, Long)] = {
+    countApproxDistinctByKey(p, sp, defaultPartitioner(self))
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
+   *
+   * @param relativeSD The relative standard deviation for the counter.
+   *                   Smaller values create counters that require more space.
+   * @param partitioner Partitioner to use for the resulting RDD
+   */
+  @deprecated("Use countApproxDistinctByKey with parameter p and sp", "1.0.1")
+  def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double, partitioner: Partitioner): RDD[(K, Long)] = {
+    // See stream-lib's HyperLogLog implementation on the conversion from relativeSD to p.
+    val p = (math.log((1.106 / relativeSD) * (1.106 / relativeSD)) / math.log(2)).toInt
+    countApproxDistinctByKey(p, 0, partitioner)
+  }
+
   /**
    * Return approximate number of distinct values for each key in this RDD.
    * The accuracy of approximation can be controlled through the relative standard deviation
@@ -249,7 +310,11 @@ class PairRDDFunctions[K, V](self: RDD[(K, V)])
    * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vice versa. HashPartitions the
    * output RDD into numPartitions.
    *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
    */
+  @deprecated("Use countApproxDistinctByKey with parameter p and sp", "1.0.1")
   def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double, numPartitions: Int): RDD[(K, Long)] = {
     countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD, new HashPartitioner(numPartitions))
   }
@@ -261,7 +326,12 @@ class PairRDDFunctions[K, V](self: RDD[(K, V)])
    * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vice versa. The default value of
    * relativeSD is 0.05. Hash-partitions the output RDD using the existing partitioner/parallelism
    * level.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
    */
+  @deprecated("Use countApproxDistinctByKey with parameter p and sp", "1.0.1")
   def countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD: Double = 0.05): RDD[(K, Long)] = {
     countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD, defaultPartitioner(self))
   }
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
index 94307aad14acd..f418c80db08d4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
@@ -921,19 +921,21 @@ abstract class RDD[T: ClassTag](
    * :: Experimental ::
    * Return approximate number of distinct elements in the RDD.
    *
-   * The accuracy of approximation can be controlled through the relative standard deviation
-   * (relativeSD) parameter, which also controls the amount of memory used. Lower values result in
-   * more accurate counts but increase the memory footprint and vise versa. The default value of
-   * relativeSD is 0.05.
-   *
    * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
    * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
    * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
+   *
+   * @param p The precision value for the normal set.
+   *          <code>p</code> must be a value between 4 and <code>sp</code>.
+   * @param sp The precision value for the sparse set, between 0 and 32.
+   *           If <code>sp</code> equals 0, the sparse representation is skipped.
    */
   @Experimental
-  def countApproxDistinct(relativeSD: Double = 0.05): Long = {
-    val precision = (math.log((1.106 / relativeSD) * (1.106 / relativeSD)) / math.log(2)).toInt
-    val zeroCounter = new HyperLogLogPlus(precision)
+  def countApproxDistinct(p: Int, sp: Int): Long = {
+    require(p >= 4, s"p ($p) must be greater than 0")
+    require(sp <= 32, s"sp ($sp) cannot be greater than 32")
+    require(sp == 0 || p <= sp, s"p ($p) cannot be greater than sp ($sp)")
+    val zeroCounter = new HyperLogLogPlus(p, sp)
     aggregate(zeroCounter)(
       (hll: HyperLogLogPlus, v: T) => {
         hll.offer(v)
@@ -945,6 +947,20 @@ abstract class RDD[T: ClassTag](
       }).cardinality()
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Return approximate number of distinct elements in the RDD.
+   *
+   * The algorithm used is based on streamlib's implementation of "HyperLogLog in Practice:
+   * Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm", available at
+   * [[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub40671.html]].
+   */
+  @deprecated("Use countApproxDistinct with parameter p and sp", "1.0.1")
+  def countApproxDistinct(relativeSD: Double = 0.05): Long = {
+    // See stream-lib's HyperLogLog implementation on the conversion from relativeSD to p.
+    val p = (math.log((1.106 / relativeSD) * (1.106 / relativeSD)) / math.log(2)).toInt
+    countApproxDistinct(p, 0)
+  }
+
   /**
    * Zips this RDD with its element indices. The ordering is first based on the partition index
    * and then the ordering of items within each partition. So the first item in the first
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/spark/JavaAPISuite.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/spark/JavaAPISuite.java
index 3dd79243ab5bd..21ba8ed5eb3de 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/spark/JavaAPISuite.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/spark/JavaAPISuite.java
@@ -1031,27 +1031,23 @@ public void countApproxDistinct() {
       arrayData.add(i % size);
     }
     JavaRDD<Integer> simpleRdd = sc.parallelize(arrayData, 10);
-    Assert.assertTrue(Math.abs((simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(0.2) - size) / (size * 1.0)) < 0.2);
-    Assert.assertTrue(Math.abs((simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(0.05) - size) / (size * 1.0)) <= 0.05);
-    Assert.assertTrue(Math.abs((simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(0.01) - size) / (size * 1.0)) <= 0.01);
+    Assert.assertTrue(Math.abs((simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(8, 0) - size) / (size * 1.0)) <= 0.1);
   }
 
   @Test
   public void countApproxDistinctByKey() {
-    double relativeSD = 0.001;
-
     List<Tuple2<Integer, Integer>> arrayData = new ArrayList<Tuple2<Integer, Integer>>();
     for (int i = 10; i < 100; i++)
       for (int j = 0; j < i; j++)
         arrayData.add(new Tuple2<Integer, Integer>(i, j));
 
     JavaPairRDD<Integer, Integer> pairRdd = sc.parallelizePairs(arrayData);
-    List<Tuple2<Integer, Object>> res =  pairRdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD).collect();
+    List<Tuple2<Integer, Object>> res =  pairRdd.countApproxDistinctByKey(8, 0).collect();
     for (Tuple2<Integer, Object> resItem : res) {
       double count = (double)resItem._1();
       Long resCount = (Long)resItem._2();
       Double error = Math.abs((resCount - count) / count);
-      Assert.assertTrue(error < relativeSD);
+      Assert.assertTrue(error < 0.1);
     }
 
   }
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/PairRDDFunctionsSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/PairRDDFunctionsSuite.scala
index 010ee04109225..937ddfcc2b6b1 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/PairRDDFunctionsSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/PairRDDFunctionsSuite.scala
@@ -119,13 +119,15 @@ class PairRDDFunctionsSuite extends FunSuite with SharedSparkContext {
      * relatively tight error bounds to check correctness of functionality rather than checking
      * whether the approximation conforms with the requested bound.
      */
-    val relativeSD = 0.001
+    val p = 20
+    val sp = 0
+    val relativeSD = 0.01
 
     // For each value i, there are i tuples with first element equal to i.
     // Therefore, the expected count for key i would be i.
     val stacked = (1 to 100).flatMap(i => (1 to i).map(j => (i, j)))
     val rdd1 = sc.parallelize(stacked)
-    val counted1 = rdd1.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD).collect()
+    val counted1 = rdd1.countApproxDistinctByKey(p, sp).collect()
     counted1.foreach { case (k, count) => assert(error(count, k) < relativeSD) }
 
     val rnd = new Random()
@@ -136,7 +138,7 @@ class PairRDDFunctionsSuite extends FunSuite with SharedSparkContext {
       (1 to num).map(j => (num, j))
     }
     val rdd2 = sc.parallelize(randStacked)
-    val counted2 = rdd2.countApproxDistinctByKey(relativeSD, 4).collect()
+    val counted2 = rdd2.countApproxDistinctByKey(p, sp, 4).collect()
     counted2.foreach { case(k, count) => assert(error(count, k) < relativeSD) }
   }
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDDSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDDSuite.scala
index e686068f7a99a..bbd0c14178368 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDDSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDDSuite.scala
@@ -73,10 +73,8 @@ class RDDSuite extends FunSuite with SharedSparkContext {
     val size = 100
     val uniformDistro = for (i <- 1 to 100000) yield i % size
     val simpleRdd = sc.makeRDD(uniformDistro)
-    assert(error(simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(0.2), size) < 0.2)
-    assert(error(simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(0.05), size) < 0.05)
-    assert(error(simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(0.01), size) < 0.01)
-    assert(error(simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(0.001), size) < 0.001)
+    assert(error(simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(4, 0), size) < 0.4)
+    assert(error(simpleRdd.countApproxDistinct(8, 0), size) < 0.1)
   }
 
   test("SparkContext.union") {