diff --git a/python/pyspark/serializers.py b/python/pyspark/serializers.py
index c478c1bcd66fc..02822b8a8f992 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/serializers.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/serializers.py
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@
 import marshal
 import struct
 import sys
+import types
 import collections
 
 from pyspark import cloudpickle
@@ -271,18 +272,21 @@ def dumps(self, obj):
 
 # Hook namedtuple, make it picklable
 
-old_namedtuple = collections.namedtuple
 __cls = {}
 
+
 def _restore(name, fields, value):
+    """ Restore an object of namedtuple"""
     k = (name, fields)
     cls = __cls.get(k)
     if cls is None:
-        cls = namedtuple(name, fields)
+        cls = collections.namedtuple(name, fields)
         __cls[k] = cls
     return cls(*value)
 
+
 def _hack_namedtuple(cls):
+    """ Make class generated by namedtuple picklable """
     name = cls.__name__
     fields = cls._fields
     def __reduce__(self):
@@ -290,21 +294,25 @@ def __reduce__(self):
     cls.__reduce__ = __reduce__
     return cls
 
-def namedtuple(name, fields, verbose=False, rename=False):
-    cls = old_namedtuple(name, fields, verbose, rename)
-    return _hack_namedtuple(cls)
 
-namedtuple.__doc__ = old_namedtuple.__doc__
+def _hijack_namedtuple():
+    """ Hack namedtuple() to make it picklable """
+    global _old_namedtuple # or it will put in closure
 
+    def _copy_func(f):
+        return types.FunctionType(f.func_code, f.func_globals, f.func_name,
+                f.func_defaults, f.func_closure)
 
-def _hijack_namedtuple():
-    collections.namedtuple = namedtuple
+    _old_namedtuple = _copy_func(collections.namedtuple)
+
+    def namedtuple(name, fields, verbose=False, rename=False):
+        cls = _old_namedtuple(name, fields, verbose, rename)
+        return _hack_namedtuple(cls)
 
-    # replace all the reference to the new hacked one
-    import gc
-    for ref in gc.get_referrers(old_namedtuple):
-        if type(ref) is dict and ref.get("namedtuple") is old_namedtuple:
-            ref["namedtuple"] = namedtuple
+    # replace namedtuple with new one
+    collections.namedtuple.func_globals["_old_namedtuple"] = _old_namedtuple
+    collections.namedtuple.func_globals["_hack_namedtuple"] = _hack_namedtuple
+    collections.namedtuple.func_code = namedtuple.func_code
 
     # hack the cls already generated by namedtuple
     # those created in other module can be pickled as normal,
@@ -313,7 +321,7 @@ def _hijack_namedtuple():
         if (type(o) is type and o.__base__ is tuple
             and hasattr(o, "_fields")
             and "__reduce__" not in o.__dict__):
-            _hack_namedtuple(o)
+            _hack_namedtuple(o) # hack inplace
 
 
 _hijack_namedtuple()
diff --git a/python/pyspark/tests.py b/python/pyspark/tests.py
index a2d2c0dd1d0b3..ce981881d2e6b 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/tests.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/tests.py
@@ -105,6 +105,17 @@ def test_huge_dataset(self):
         m._cleanup()
 
 
+class SerializationTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_namedtuple(self):
+        from collections import namedtuple
+        from cPickle import dumps, loads
+        P = namedtuple("P", "x y")
+        p1 = P(1, 3)
+        p2 = loads(dumps(p1, 2))
+        self.assertEquals(p1, p2)
+
+
 class PySparkTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):