diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/HdfsUtils.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/HdfsUtils.scala
index de53c59c6826..079b2fef904a 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/HdfsUtils.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/HdfsUtils.scala
@@ -21,11 +21,10 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.fs.{FSDataInputStream, FSDataOutputStream, Path}
 
 private[streaming] object HdfsUtils {
 
-  def getOutputStream(path: String): FSDataOutputStream = {
+  def getOutputStream(path: String, conf: Configuration): FSDataOutputStream = {
     // HDFS is not thread-safe when getFileSystem is called, so synchronize on that
 
     val dfsPath = new Path(path)
-    val conf = new Configuration()
     val dfs =
       this.synchronized {
         dfsPath.getFileSystem(conf)
@@ -45,10 +44,10 @@ private[streaming] object HdfsUtils {
     stream
   }
 
-  def getInputStream(path: String): FSDataInputStream = {
+  def getInputStream(path: String, conf: Configuration): FSDataInputStream = {
     val dfsPath = new Path(path)
     val dfs = this.synchronized {
-      dfsPath.getFileSystem(new Configuration())
+      dfsPath.getFileSystem(conf)
     }
     val instream = dfs.open(dfsPath)
     instream
diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogRandomReader.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogRandomReader.scala
index aee5d192102e..3df024834f7a 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogRandomReader.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogRandomReader.scala
@@ -17,13 +17,17 @@
 package org.apache.spark.streaming.storage
 
 import java.io.Closeable
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 
-private[streaming] class WriteAheadLogRandomReader(path: String) extends Closeable {
+import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration
 
-  private val instream = HdfsUtils.getInputStream(path)
+private[streaming] class WriteAheadLogRandomReader(path: String, conf: Configuration)
+  extends Closeable {
+
+  private val instream = HdfsUtils.getInputStream(path, conf)
   private var closed = false
 
-  def read(segment: FileSegment): Array[Byte] = synchronized {
+  def read(segment: FileSegment): ByteBuffer = synchronized {
     assertOpen()
     instream.seek(segment.offset)
     val nextLength = instream.readInt()
@@ -31,7 +35,7 @@ private[streaming] class WriteAheadLogRandomReader(path: String) extends Closeab
       "Expected message length to be " + segment.length + ", " + "but was " + nextLength)
     val buffer = new Array[Byte](nextLength)
     instream.readFully(buffer)
-    buffer
+    ByteBuffer.wrap(buffer)
   }
 
   override def close(): Unit = synchronized {
diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogReader.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogReader.scala
index 75791c247018..724549e216e9 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogReader.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogReader.scala
@@ -16,36 +16,37 @@
  */
 package org.apache.spark.streaming.storage
 
-import java.io.Closeable
+import java.io.{EOFException, Closeable}
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 
-private[streaming] class WriteAheadLogReader(path: String)
-  extends Iterator[Array[Byte]] with Closeable {
+import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration
 
-  private val instream = HdfsUtils.getInputStream(path)
+private[streaming] class WriteAheadLogReader(path: String, conf: Configuration)
+  extends Iterator[ByteBuffer] with Closeable {
+
+  private val instream = HdfsUtils.getInputStream(path, conf)
   private var closed = false
-  private var nextItem: Option[Array[Byte]] = None
+  private var nextItem: Option[ByteBuffer] = None
 
   override def hasNext: Boolean = synchronized {
     assertOpen()
     if (nextItem.isDefined) { // handle the case where hasNext is called without calling next
       true
     } else {
-      val available = instream.available()
-      if (available < 4) { // Length of next block (which is an Int = 4 bytes) of data is unavailable!
-        false
-      }
-      val length = instream.readInt()
-      if (instream.available() < length) {
-        false
+      try {
+        val length = instream.readInt()
+        val buffer = new Array[Byte](length)
+        instream.readFully(buffer)
+        nextItem = Some(ByteBuffer.wrap(buffer))
+        true
+      } catch {
+        case e: EOFException => false
+        case e: Exception => throw e
       }
-      val buffer = new Array[Byte](length)
-      instream.readFully(buffer)
-      nextItem = Some(buffer)
-      true
     }
   }
 
-  override def next(): Array[Byte] = synchronized {
+  override def next(): ByteBuffer = synchronized {
     // TODO: Possible error case where there are not enough bytes in the stream
     // TODO: How to handle that?
     val data = nextItem.getOrElse {
diff --git a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogWriter.scala b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogWriter.scala
index f151c17ff66d..8a2db8305a7e 100644
--- a/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogWriter.scala
+++ b/streaming/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogWriter.scala
@@ -17,21 +17,38 @@
 package org.apache.spark.streaming.storage
 
 import java.io.Closeable
+import java.lang.reflect.Method
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 
-private[streaming] class WriteAheadLogWriter(path: String) extends Closeable {
-  private val stream = HdfsUtils.getOutputStream(path)
+import scala.util.Try
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FSDataOutputStream
+
+private[streaming] class WriteAheadLogWriter(path: String, conf: Configuration) extends Closeable {
+  private val stream = HdfsUtils.getOutputStream(path, conf)
   private var nextOffset = stream.getPos
   private var closed = false
+  private val hflushMethod = getHflushOrSync()
 
   // Data is always written as:
   // - Length - Long
   // - Data - of length = Length
-  def write(data: Array[Byte]): FileSegment = synchronized {
+  def write(data: ByteBuffer): FileSegment = synchronized {
     assertOpen()
-    val segment = new FileSegment(path, nextOffset, data.length)
-    stream.writeInt(data.length)
-    stream.write(data)
-    stream.hflush()
+    data.rewind() // Rewind to ensure all data in the buffer is retrieved
+    val lengthToWrite = data.remaining()
+    val segment = new FileSegment(path, nextOffset, lengthToWrite)
+    stream.writeInt(lengthToWrite)
+    if (data.hasArray) {
+      stream.write(data.array())
+    } else {
+      // If the buffer is not backed by an array we need to write the data byte by byte
+      while (data.hasRemaining) {
+        stream.write(data.get())
+      }
+    }
+    hflushOrSync()
     nextOffset = stream.getPos
     segment
   }
@@ -41,6 +58,19 @@ private[streaming] class WriteAheadLogWriter(path: String) extends Closeable {
     stream.close()
   }
 
+  private def hflushOrSync() {
+    hflushMethod.foreach(_.invoke(stream))
+  }
+
+  private def getHflushOrSync(): Option[Method] = {
+    Try {
+      Some(classOf[FSDataOutputStream].getMethod("hflush"))
+    }.recover {
+      case e: NoSuchMethodException =>
+        Some(classOf[FSDataOutputStream].getMethod("sync"))
+    }.getOrElse(None)
+  }
+
   private def assertOpen() {
     HdfsUtils.checkState(!closed, "Stream is closed. Create a new Writer to write to file.")
   }
diff --git a/streaming/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogSuite.scala b/streaming/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogSuite.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ed21bdbb399f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/streaming/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/streaming/storage/WriteAheadLogSuite.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.spark.streaming.storage
+
+import java.io.{RandomAccessFile, File}
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import java.util.Random
+
+import scala.collection.mutable.ArrayBuffer
+
+import com.google.common.io.Files
+import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration
+
+import org.apache.spark.streaming.TestSuiteBase
+
+class WriteAheadLogSuite extends TestSuiteBase {
+  
+  val hadoopConf = new Configuration()
+  val random = new Random()
+
+  test("Test successful writes") {
+    val dir = Files.createTempDir()
+    val file = new File(dir, "TestWriter")
+    try {
+      val dataToWrite = for (i <- 1 to 50) yield generateRandomData()
+      val writer = new WriteAheadLogWriter("file:///" + file.toString, hadoopConf)
+      val segments = dataToWrite.map(writer.write)
+      writer.close()
+      val writtenData = readData(segments, file)
+      assert(writtenData.toArray === dataToWrite.toArray)
+    } finally {
+      file.delete()
+      dir.delete()
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("Test successful reads using random reader") {
+    val file = File.createTempFile("TestRandomReads", "")
+    file.deleteOnExit()
+    val writtenData = writeData(50, file)
+    val reader = new WriteAheadLogRandomReader("file:///" + file.toString, hadoopConf)
+    writtenData.foreach {
+      x =>
+        val length = x._1.remaining()
+        assert(x._1 === reader.read(new FileSegment(file.toString, x._2, length)))
+    }
+    reader.close()
+  }
+
+  test("Test reading data using random reader written with writer") {
+    val dir = Files.createTempDir()
+    val file = new File(dir, "TestRandomReads")
+    try {
+      val dataToWrite = for (i <- 1 to 50) yield generateRandomData()
+      val segments = writeUsingWriter(file, dataToWrite)
+      val iter = dataToWrite.iterator
+      val reader = new WriteAheadLogRandomReader("file:///" + file.toString, hadoopConf)
+      val writtenData = segments.map { x =>
+        reader.read(x)
+      }
+      assert(dataToWrite.toArray === writtenData.toArray)
+    } finally {
+      file.delete()
+      dir.delete()
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("Test successful reads using sequential reader") {
+    val file = File.createTempFile("TestSequentialReads", "")
+    file.deleteOnExit()
+    val writtenData = writeData(50, file)
+    val reader = new WriteAheadLogReader("file:///" + file.toString, hadoopConf)
+    val iter = writtenData.iterator
+    iter.foreach { x =>
+      assert(reader.hasNext === true)
+      assert(reader.next() === x._1)
+    }
+    reader.close()
+  }
+
+
+  test("Test reading data using sequential reader written with writer") {
+    val dir = Files.createTempDir()
+    val file = new File(dir, "TestWriter")
+    try {
+      val dataToWrite = for (i <- 1 to 50) yield generateRandomData()
+      val segments = writeUsingWriter(file, dataToWrite)
+      val iter = dataToWrite.iterator
+      val reader = new WriteAheadLogReader("file:///" + file.toString, hadoopConf)
+      reader.foreach { x =>
+        assert(x === iter.next())
+      }
+    } finally {
+      file.delete()
+      dir.delete()
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Writes data to the file and returns the an array of the bytes written.
+   * @param count
+   * @return
+   */
+  // We don't want to be using the WAL writer to test the reader - it will be painful to figure
+  // out where the bug is. Instead generate the file by hand and see if the WAL reader can
+  // handle it.
+  def writeData(count: Int, file: File): ArrayBuffer[(ByteBuffer, Long)] = {
+    val writtenData = new ArrayBuffer[(ByteBuffer, Long)]()
+    val writer = new RandomAccessFile(file, "rw")
+    var i = 0
+    while (i < count) {
+      val data = generateRandomData()
+      writtenData += ((data, writer.getFilePointer))
+      data.rewind()
+      writer.writeInt(data.remaining())
+      writer.write(data.array())
+      i += 1
+    }
+    writer.close()
+    writtenData
+  }
+
+  def readData(segments: Seq[FileSegment], file: File): Seq[ByteBuffer] = {
+    val reader = new RandomAccessFile(file, "r")
+    segments.map { x =>
+      reader.seek(x.offset)
+      val data = new Array[Byte](x.length)
+      reader.readInt()
+      reader.readFully(data)
+      ByteBuffer.wrap(data)
+    }
+  }
+
+  def generateRandomData(): ByteBuffer = {
+    val data = new Array[Byte](random.nextInt(50))
+    random.nextBytes(data)
+    ByteBuffer.wrap(data)
+  }
+
+  def writeUsingWriter(file: File, input: Seq[ByteBuffer]): Seq[FileSegment] = {
+    val writer = new WriteAheadLogWriter(file.toString, hadoopConf)
+    val segments = input.map(writer.write)
+    writer.close()
+    segments
+  }
+}