diff --git a/R/pkg/R/sparkR.R b/R/pkg/R/sparkR.R
index a7152b4313..43bff97553 100644
--- a/R/pkg/R/sparkR.R
+++ b/R/pkg/R/sparkR.R
@@ -322,6 +322,9 @@ sparkRHive.init <- function(jsc = NULL) {
 #' SparkSession or initializes a new SparkSession.
 #' Additional Spark properties can be set in \code{...}, and these named parameters take priority
 #' over values in \code{master}, \code{appName}, named lists of \code{sparkConfig}.
+#' When called in an interactive session, this checks for the Spark installation, and, if not
+#' found, it will be downloaded and cached automatically. Alternatively, \code{install.spark} can
+#' be called manually.
 #'
 #' For details on how to initialize and use SparkR, refer to SparkR programming guide at
 #' \url{http://spark.apache.org/docs/latest/sparkr.html#starting-up-sparksession}.
@@ -565,7 +568,7 @@ sparkCheckInstall <- function(sparkHome, master, deployMode) {
       message(msg)
       NULL
     } else {
-      if (isMasterLocal(master)) {
+      if (interactive() || isMasterLocal(master)) {
         msg <- paste0("Spark not found in SPARK_HOME: ", sparkHome)
         message(msg)
         packageLocalDir <- install.spark()
diff --git a/R/pkg/vignettes/sparkr-vignettes.Rmd b/R/pkg/vignettes/sparkr-vignettes.Rmd
index 73a5e26a3b..a36f8fc0c1 100644
--- a/R/pkg/vignettes/sparkr-vignettes.Rmd
+++ b/R/pkg/vignettes/sparkr-vignettes.Rmd
@@ -94,13 +94,13 @@ sparkR.session.stop()
 
 Different from many other R packages, to use SparkR, you need an additional installation of Apache Spark. The Spark installation will be used to run a backend process that will compile and execute SparkR programs.
 
-If you don't have Spark installed on the computer, you may download it from [Apache Spark Website](http://spark.apache.org/downloads.html). Alternatively, we provide an easy-to-use function `install.spark` to complete this process. You don't have to call it explicitly. We will check the installation when `sparkR.session` is called and `install.spark` function will be  triggered automatically if no installation is found.
+After installing the SparkR package, you can call `sparkR.session` as explained in the previous section to start and it will check for the Spark installation. If you are working with SparkR from an interactive shell (eg. R, RStudio) then Spark is downloaded and cached automatically if it is not found. Alternatively, we provide an easy-to-use function `install.spark` for running this manually. If you don't have Spark installed on the computer, you may download it from [Apache Spark Website](http://spark.apache.org/downloads.html).
 
 ```{r, eval=FALSE}
 install.spark()
 ```
 
-If you already have Spark installed, you don't have to install again and can pass the `sparkHome` argument to `sparkR.session` to let SparkR know where the Spark installation is.
+If you already have Spark installed, you don't have to install again and can pass the `sparkHome` argument to `sparkR.session` to let SparkR know where the existing Spark installation is.
 
 ```{r, eval=FALSE}
 sparkR.session(sparkHome = "/HOME/spark")
diff --git a/docs/sparkr.md b/docs/sparkr.md
index d26949226b..60cd01a9fe 100644
--- a/docs/sparkr.md
+++ b/docs/sparkr.md
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ sparkR.session()
 You can also start SparkR from RStudio. You can connect your R program to a Spark cluster from
 RStudio, R shell, Rscript or other R IDEs. To start, make sure SPARK_HOME is set in environment
 (you can check [Sys.getenv](https://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-devel/library/base/html/Sys.getenv.html)),
-load the SparkR package, and call `sparkR.session` as below. In addition to calling `sparkR.session`,
+load the SparkR package, and call `sparkR.session` as below. It will check for the Spark installation, and, if not found, it will be downloaded and cached automatically. Alternatively, you can also run `install.spark` manually.
+
+In addition to calling `sparkR.session`,
  you could also specify certain Spark driver properties. Normally these
 [Application properties](configuration.html#application-properties) and
 [Runtime Environment](configuration.html#runtime-environment) cannot be set programmatically, as the