diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
index a7e01f397e062..0359508c00395 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
@@ -1610,14 +1610,15 @@ abstract class RDD[T: ClassTag](
   /**
    * Return whether this RDD is checkpointed and materialized, either reliably or locally.
    */
-  def isCheckpointed: Boolean = checkpointData.exists(_.isCheckpointed)
+  def isCheckpointed: Boolean = isCheckpointedAndMaterialized
 
   /**
    * Return whether this RDD is checkpointed and materialized, either reliably or locally.
    * This is introduced as an alias for `isCheckpointed` to clarify the semantics of the
    * return value. Exposed for testing.
    */
-  private[spark] def isCheckpointedAndMaterialized: Boolean = isCheckpointed
+  private[spark] def isCheckpointedAndMaterialized: Boolean =
+    checkpointData.exists(_.isCheckpointed)
 
   /**
    * Return whether this RDD is marked for local checkpointing.
diff --git a/graphx/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/EdgeRDDSuite.scala b/graphx/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/EdgeRDDSuite.scala
index f1ecc9e2219d1..7a24e320c3e04 100644
--- a/graphx/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/EdgeRDDSuite.scala
+++ b/graphx/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/EdgeRDDSuite.scala
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package org.apache.spark.graphx
 
 import org.apache.spark.SparkFunSuite
 import org.apache.spark.storage.StorageLevel
+import org.apache.spark.util.Utils
 
 class EdgeRDDSuite extends SparkFunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
 
@@ -33,4 +34,30 @@ class EdgeRDDSuite extends SparkFunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
     }
   }
 
+  test("checkpointing") {
+    withSpark { sc =>
+      val verts = sc.parallelize(List((0L, 0), (1L, 1), (1L, 2), (2L, 3), (2L, 3), (2L, 3)))
+      val edges = EdgeRDD.fromEdges(sc.parallelize(List.empty[Edge[Int]]))
+      sc.setCheckpointDir(Utils.createTempDir().getCanonicalPath)
+      edges.checkpoint()
+
+      // EdgeRDD not yet checkpointed
+      assert(!edges.isCheckpointed)
+      assert(!edges.isCheckpointedAndMaterialized)
+      assert(!edges.partitionsRDD.isCheckpointed)
+      assert(!edges.partitionsRDD.isCheckpointedAndMaterialized)
+
+      val data = edges.collect().toSeq // force checkpointing
+
+      // EdgeRDD shows up as checkpointed, but internally it is not.
+      // Only internal partitionsRDD is checkpointed.
+      assert(edges.isCheckpointed)
+      assert(!edges.isCheckpointedAndMaterialized)
+      assert(edges.partitionsRDD.isCheckpointed)
+      assert(edges.partitionsRDD.isCheckpointedAndMaterialized)
+
+      assert(edges.collect().toSeq ===  data) // test checkpointed RDD
+    }
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/graphx/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/VertexRDDSuite.scala b/graphx/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/VertexRDDSuite.scala
index 0bb9e0a3ea180..8e630435279de 100644
--- a/graphx/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/VertexRDDSuite.scala
+++ b/graphx/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/VertexRDDSuite.scala
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package org.apache.spark.graphx
 import org.apache.spark.{HashPartitioner, SparkContext, SparkFunSuite}
 import org.apache.spark.rdd.RDD
 import org.apache.spark.storage.StorageLevel
+import org.apache.spark.util.Utils
 
 class VertexRDDSuite extends SparkFunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
 
@@ -197,4 +198,29 @@ class VertexRDDSuite extends SparkFunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
     }
   }
 
+  test("checkpoint") {
+    withSpark { sc =>
+      val n = 100
+      val verts = vertices(sc, n)
+      sc.setCheckpointDir(Utils.createTempDir().getCanonicalPath)
+      verts.checkpoint()
+
+      // VertexRDD not yet checkpointed
+      assert(!verts.isCheckpointed)
+      assert(!verts.isCheckpointedAndMaterialized)
+      assert(!verts.partitionsRDD.isCheckpointed)
+      assert(!verts.partitionsRDD.isCheckpointedAndMaterialized)
+
+      val data = verts.collect().toSeq // force checkpointing
+
+      // VertexRDD shows up as checkpointed, but internally it is not.
+      // Only internal partitionsRDD is checkpointed.
+      assert(verts.isCheckpointed)
+      assert(!verts.isCheckpointedAndMaterialized)
+      assert(verts.partitionsRDD.isCheckpointed)
+      assert(verts.partitionsRDD.isCheckpointedAndMaterialized)
+
+      assert(verts.collect().toSeq === data) // test checkpointed RDD
+    }
+  }
 }