diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/CommonFSUtils.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/CommonFSUtils.java
index ea655a25d58d..b02166030464 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/CommonFSUtils.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/CommonFSUtils.java
@@ -350,11 +350,18 @@ public static void setWALRootDir(final Configuration c, final Path root) {
   public static FileSystem getWALFileSystem(final Configuration c) throws IOException {
     Path p = getWALRootDir(c);
     FileSystem fs = p.getFileSystem(c);
-    // hadoop-core does fs caching, so need to propogate this if set
+    // hadoop-core does fs caching, so need to propagate this if set
     String enforceStreamCapability = c.get(UNSAFE_STREAM_CAPABILITY_ENFORCE);
     if (enforceStreamCapability != null) {
       fs.getConf().set(UNSAFE_STREAM_CAPABILITY_ENFORCE, enforceStreamCapability);
     }
+    if (!c.getBoolean(HConstants.CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTED, false)) {
+      // running in standalone mode, assume RawLocalFileSystem does not support
+      // required capabilities `HSYNC` and `HFLUSH`, so disable enforcement.
+      LOG.warn("Cannot enforce durability guarantees while running in"
+        + " standalone mode ({}={}).", HConstants.CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTED, false);
+      fs.getConf().setBoolean(UNSAFE_STREAM_CAPABILITY_ENFORCE, false);
+    }
     return fs;
   }