diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/RpcEnv.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/RpcEnv.scala
index e0de3972ffe04..3b21e4e53dd08 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/RpcEnv.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/RpcEnv.scala
@@ -196,17 +196,14 @@ private[rpc] class RpcTimeoutException(message: String, cause: TimeoutException)
 /**
  * Associates a timeout with a description so that a when a TimeoutException occurs, additional
  * context about the timeout can be amended to the exception message.
- * @param timeout timeout duration in seconds
- * @param conf the configuration parameter that controls this timeout
+ * @param duration timeout duration in seconds
+ * @param timeoutProp the configuration property that controls this timeout
  */
-private[spark] class RpcTimeout(timeout: FiniteDuration, val conf: String) {
-
-  /** Get the timeout duration */
-  def duration: FiniteDuration = timeout
+private[spark] class RpcTimeout(val duration: FiniteDuration, val timeoutProp: String) {
 
   /** Amends the standard message of TimeoutException to include the description */
   private def createRpcTimeoutException(te: TimeoutException): RpcTimeoutException = {
-    new RpcTimeoutException(te.getMessage() + ". This timeout is controlled by " + conf, te)
+    new RpcTimeoutException(te.getMessage() + ". This timeout is controlled by " + timeoutProp, te)
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/RpcEnvSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/RpcEnvSuite.scala
index 4087a7fb5bcc6..a7d1839788eb1 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/RpcEnvSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/RpcEnvSuite.scala
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ abstract class RpcEnvSuite extends SparkFunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll {
     val defaultDurationSeconds = 1
     val rt3 = RpcTimeout(conf, Seq(defaultProp), defaultDurationSeconds.toString + "s")
     assert( defaultDurationSeconds === rt3.duration.toSeconds )
-    assert( rt3.conf.contains(defaultProp) )
+    assert( rt3.timeoutProp.contains(defaultProp) )
 
     // Try to construct RpcTimeout with an unconfigured property
     intercept[Throwable] {