diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
index dbb354d3b7..d884095671 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ class SparkContext(
   /** Set a human readable description of the current job. */
   @deprecated("use setJobGroup", "0.8.1")
   def setJobDescription(value: String) {
-    setJobGroup("", value)
+    setLocalProperty(SparkContext.SPARK_JOB_DESCRIPTION, value)
   }
 
   /**