diff --git a/src/docs/user/hcatalog.txt b/src/docs/user/hcatalog.txt
index 2ae1d54d..e652f8cd 100644
--- a/src/docs/user/hcatalog.txt
+++ b/src/docs/user/hcatalog.txt
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ The presence of the +--hcatalog-table+ option signifies that the import
 or export job is done using HCatalog tables, and it is a required option for
 HCatalog jobs.
 
++--hcatalog-external-table+::
+Set this flag if you need to create external Hive table for example to store
+data in form of ORC files.
+
 +--hcatalog-home+::
 The home directory for the HCatalog installation. The directory is
 expected to have a +lib+ subdirectory and a +share/hcatalog+ subdirectory
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/SqoopOptions.java b/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/SqoopOptions.java
index a7c19daa..f4c6a4cc 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/SqoopOptions.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/SqoopOptions.java
@@ -240,6 +240,8 @@ public String toString() {
   @StoredAsProperty("hive.partition.value") private String hivePartitionValue;
   @StoredAsProperty("hcatalog.table.name")
   private String hCatTableName;
+  @StoredAsProperty("hcatalog.external.table")
+  private boolean isExternalHCatTable = false;
   @StoredAsProperty("hcatalog.database.name")
   private String hCatDatabaseName;
   @StoredAsProperty("hcatalog.create.table")
@@ -1654,6 +1656,14 @@ public String getHCatTableName() {
     return this.hCatTableName;
   }
 
+  public void useExternalHCatTable(boolean value) {
+    this.isExternalHCatTable = value;
+  }
+
+  public boolean isHCatTableExternal() {
+    return this.isExternalHCatTable;
+  }
+
   public void setHCatDatabaseName(String hd) {
     this.hCatDatabaseName = hd;
   }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/mapreduce/hcat/SqoopHCatUtilities.java b/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/mapreduce/hcat/SqoopHCatUtilities.java
index 234b7a87..cd939337 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/mapreduce/hcat/SqoopHCatUtilities.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/mapreduce/hcat/SqoopHCatUtilities.java
@@ -377,11 +377,11 @@ public void configureHCat(final SqoopOptions opts, final Job job,
     if (options.doCreateHCatalogTable()) {
       LOG.info("Creating HCatalog table " + hCatQualifiedTableName
         + " for import");
-      createHCatTable(false);
+      createHCatTable(false, options.isHCatTableExternal());
     } else if (options.doDropAndCreateHCatalogTable()) {
       LOG.info("Dropping and Creating HCatalog table "
         + hCatQualifiedTableName + " for import");
-      createHCatTable(true);
+      createHCatTable(true, options.isHCatTableExternal());
     }
     // For serializing the schema to conf
     HCatInputFormat hif = HCatInputFormat.setInput(hCatJob, hCatDatabaseName,
@@ -599,14 +599,18 @@ public static StringBuilder escHCatObj(String objectName) {
     return sb;
   }
 
-  private void createHCatTable(boolean dropIfExists) throws IOException {
+  private void createHCatTable(boolean dropIfExists, boolean isExternal) throws IOException {
     StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
     if (dropIfExists) {
       sb.append("drop table ").
               append(escHCatObj(hCatDatabaseName)).append('.').
               append(escHCatObj(hCatTableName)).append(";\n");
     }
-    sb.append("create table ").
+    sb.append("create ");
+    if(isExternal) {
+      sb.append("external ");
+    }
+    sb.append("table ").
       append(escHCatObj(hCatDatabaseName)).append('.');
     sb.append(escHCatObj(hCatTableName)).append(" (\n\t");
     boolean first = true;
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/tool/BaseSqoopTool.java b/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/tool/BaseSqoopTool.java
index 96f06de0..8520a1b2 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/tool/BaseSqoopTool.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/sqoop/tool/BaseSqoopTool.java
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ public abstract class BaseSqoopTool extends org.apache.sqoop.tool.SqoopTool {
   public static final String CREATE_HIVE_TABLE_ARG =
       "create-hive-table";
   public static final String HCATALOG_TABLE_ARG = "hcatalog-table";
+  public static final String HCATALOG_EXTERNAL_TABLE_ARG = "hcatalog-external-table";
   public static final String HCATALOG_DATABASE_ARG = "hcatalog-database";
   public static final String CREATE_HCATALOG_TABLE_ARG =
     "create-hcatalog-table";
@@ -661,6 +662,10 @@ protected RelatedOptions getHCatalogOptions() {
       .withDescription("HCatalog table name")
       .withLongOpt(HCATALOG_TABLE_ARG)
       .create());
+    hCatOptions.addOption(OptionBuilder
+            .withDescription("Signing that HCatalog table shall be created as external")
+            .withLongOpt(HCATALOG_EXTERNAL_TABLE_ARG)
+            .create());
     hCatOptions.addOption(OptionBuilder
       .hasArg()
       .withDescription("HCatalog database name")
@@ -1302,6 +1307,10 @@ protected void applyHCatalogOptions(CommandLine in, SqoopOptions out) {
       out.setHCatTableName(in.getOptionValue(HCATALOG_TABLE_ARG));
     }
 
+    if (in.hasOption(HCATALOG_EXTERNAL_TABLE_ARG)) {
+      out.useExternalHCatTable(true);
+    }
+
     if (in.hasOption(HCATALOG_DATABASE_ARG)) {
       out.setHCatDatabaseName(in.getOptionValue(HCATALOG_DATABASE_ARG));
     }