diff --git a/assembly/lib/PY4J_LICENSE.txt b/assembly/lib/PY4J_LICENSE.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index a70279ca14ae3cdfd3f166871eb888f4d6e112ac..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/assembly/lib/PY4J_LICENSE.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-
-Copyright (c) 2009-2011, Barthelemy Dagenais All rights reserved.
-
-Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
-modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
-
-- Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
-list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
-
-- Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
-this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
-and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
-
-- The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products
-derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
-
-THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
-AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
-IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
-ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
-LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
-CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
-SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
-INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
-CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
-ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
-POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
diff --git a/assembly/lib/PY4J_VERSION.txt b/assembly/lib/PY4J_VERSION.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 04a0cd52a8d9c0bff32eb2d907f09b41969232ed..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/assembly/lib/PY4J_VERSION.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-b7924aabe9c5e63f0a4d8bbd17019534c7ec014e
diff --git a/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/0.7/py4j-0.7.jar b/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/0.7/py4j-0.7.jar
deleted file mode 100644
index 73b7ddb7d115be2fb1ba4cf8003fe90c662feef6..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Binary files a/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/0.7/py4j-0.7.jar and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/0.7/py4j-0.7.pom b/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/0.7/py4j-0.7.pom
deleted file mode 100644
index 1c730e19b4b2fff945777cbd089dbfe2f70450c6..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/0.7/py4j-0.7.pom
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<project xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd" xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
-    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
-  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-  <groupId>net.sf.py4j</groupId>
-  <artifactId>py4j</artifactId>
-  <version>0.7</version>
-  <description>POM was created from install:install-file</description>
-</project>
diff --git a/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/maven-metadata-local.xml b/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/maven-metadata-local.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 6942ff45e75f194509598c9204752ea4560fdf7e..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/assembly/lib/net/sf/py4j/py4j/maven-metadata-local.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<metadata>
-  <groupId>net.sf.py4j</groupId>
-  <artifactId>py4j</artifactId>
-  <versioning>
-    <release>0.7</release>
-    <versions>
-      <version>0.7</version>
-    </versions>
-    <lastUpdated>20130828020333</lastUpdated>
-  </versioning>
-</metadata>
diff --git a/assembly/pom.xml b/assembly/pom.xml
index fc2adc1fbb5d280898b8a1a21214db5e9aa19286..c19e4bc9863492dd47dbcbbd5aad981966012a76 100644
--- a/assembly/pom.xml
+++ b/assembly/pom.xml
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>net.sf.py4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>py4j</artifactId>
-      <version>0.7</version>
+      <version>0.8.1</version>
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 
diff --git a/project/SparkBuild.scala b/project/SparkBuild.scala
index b3b5fc788f791628eee2e70a3efe6ed4e0e8f909..2d2d63508403be2fabb0d07501516e5ac9305e2f 100644
--- a/project/SparkBuild.scala
+++ b/project/SparkBuild.scala
@@ -338,6 +338,7 @@ object SparkBuild extends Build {
   )
 
   def assemblyProjSettings = sharedSettings ++ Seq(
+    libraryDependencies += "net.sf.py4j" % "py4j" % "0.8.1",
     name := "spark-assembly",
     assembleDeps in Compile <<= (packageProjects.map(packageBin in Compile in _) ++ Seq(packageDependency in Compile)).dependOn,
     jarName in assembly <<= version map { v => "spark-assembly-" + v + "-hadoop" + hadoopVersion + ".jar" },