diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/r/RRDD.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/r/RRDD.scala
index 72ae0340aa3d12964720e3d7dd6c1d2daf1b780e..295355c7bf01863a46e3298f118107d715c83d21 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/r/RRDD.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/r/RRDD.scala
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ private[r] object RRDD {
                          .mkString(File.separator))
     }
 
-    val jsc = new JavaSparkContext(sparkConf)
+    val jsc = new JavaSparkContext(SparkContext.getOrCreate(sparkConf))
     jars.foreach { jar =>
       jsc.addJar(jar)
     }