diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/StaticSQLConf.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/StaticSQLConf.scala
index 9618ff6062635..105a7a28441cc 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/StaticSQLConf.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/StaticSQLConf.scala
@@ -40,9 +40,13 @@ object StaticSQLConf {
     .internal()
     .version("2.0.0")
     .stringConf
-    .checkValues(Set("hive", "in-memory"))
     .createWithDefault("in-memory")
 
+  val SESSION_STATE_IMPLEMENTATION = buildStaticConf("spark.sql.sessionStateImplementation")
+    .internal()
+    .stringConf
+    .createWithDefault(CATALOG_IMPLEMENTATION.defaultValueString)
+
   val GLOBAL_TEMP_DATABASE = buildStaticConf("spark.sql.globalTempDatabase")
     .internal()
     .version("2.1.0")
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
index fc941270e1b64..27f0a5b10bd83 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.execution._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.command.ExternalCommandExecutor
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.{DataSource, LogicalRelation}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.internal._
-import org.apache.spark.sql.internal.StaticSQLConf.CATALOG_IMPLEMENTATION
+import org.apache.spark.sql.internal.StaticSQLConf.{CATALOG_IMPLEMENTATION, SESSION_STATE_IMPLEMENTATION}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.sources.BaseRelation
 import org.apache.spark.sql.streaming._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{DataType, StructType}
@@ -866,6 +866,7 @@ object SparkSession extends Logging {
      */
     def enableHiveSupport(): Builder = synchronized {
       if (hiveClassesArePresent) {
+        config(SESSION_STATE_IMPLEMENTATION.key, "hive")
         config(CATALOG_IMPLEMENTATION.key, "hive")
       } else {
         throw new IllegalArgumentException(
@@ -1083,9 +1084,10 @@ object SparkSession extends Logging {
     "org.apache.spark.sql.hive.HiveSessionStateBuilder"
 
   private def sessionStateClassName(conf: SparkConf): String = {
-    conf.get(CATALOG_IMPLEMENTATION) match {
+    conf.get(SESSION_STATE_IMPLEMENTATION) match {
       case "hive" => HIVE_SESSION_STATE_BUILDER_CLASS_NAME
       case "in-memory" => classOf[SessionStateBuilder].getCanonicalName
+      case builder => builder
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SharedState.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SharedState.scala
index ce4385d88f1e9..4b4ccabc46d64 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SharedState.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SharedState.scala
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ object SharedState extends Logging {
     conf.get(CATALOG_IMPLEMENTATION) match {
       case "hive" => HIVE_EXTERNAL_CATALOG_CLASS_NAME
       case "in-memory" => classOf[InMemoryCatalog].getCanonicalName
+      case name => name
     }
   }