Index: cli/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/cli/CliDriver.java =================================================================== --- cli/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/cli/CliDriver.java (revision 1673646) +++ cli/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/cli/CliDriver.java (working copy) @@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ } else { command += oneCmd; } - if (StringUtils.isBlank(command)) { + if (StringUtils.isBlank(command) || command.startsWith("--")) { continue; }