diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/executor/Executor.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/executor/Executor.scala
index 6154f06e3a..7b68dfe5ad 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/executor/Executor.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/executor/Executor.scala
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ private[spark] class Executor(
   // Executor for the heartbeat task.
   private val heartbeater = ThreadUtils.newDaemonSingleThreadScheduledExecutor("driver-heartbeater")
 
+  // must be initialized before running startDriverHeartbeat()
+  private val heartbeatReceiverRef =
+    RpcUtils.makeDriverRef(HeartbeatReceiver.ENDPOINT_NAME, conf, env.rpcEnv)
+
   startDriverHeartbeater()
 
   def launchTask(
@@ -411,9 +415,6 @@ private[spark] class Executor(
     }
   }
 
-  private val heartbeatReceiverRef =
-    RpcUtils.makeDriverRef(HeartbeatReceiver.ENDPOINT_NAME, conf, env.rpcEnv)
-
   /** Reports heartbeat and metrics for active tasks to the driver. */
   private def reportHeartBeat(): Unit = {
     // list of (task id, metrics) to send back to the driver