diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocol.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocol.scala
index 4d89c4f079f29..aee986230d4b5 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocol.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocol.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import java.util.{Properties, UUID}
 import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
 import scala.collection.Map
 
-import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.{DeserializationFeature, ObjectMapper}
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.module.scala.DefaultScalaModule
 import org.json4s.DefaultFormats
 import org.json4s.JsonAST._
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ private[spark] object JsonProtocol {
   private implicit val format = DefaultFormats
 
   private val mapper = new ObjectMapper().registerModule(DefaultScalaModule)
+    .configure(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false)
 
   /** ------------------------------------------------- *
    * JSON serialization methods for SparkListenerEvents |
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocolSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocolSuite.scala
index a2a4b3aa974fc..f2b9f97d6cf7d 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocolSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocolSuite.scala
@@ -481,6 +481,28 @@ class JsonProtocolSuite extends SparkFunSuite {
     testAccumValue(Some("anything"), blocks, JString(blocks.toString))
     testAccumValue(Some("anything"), 123, JString("123"))
   }
+
+  test("SPARK-30936: forwards compatibility - ignore unknown fields") {
+    val expected = TestListenerEvent("foo", 123)
+    val unknownFieldsJson =
+      """{
+        |  "Event" : "org.apache.spark.util.TestListenerEvent",
+        |  "foo" : "foo",
+        |  "bar" : 123,
+        |  "unknown" : "unknown"
+        |}""".stripMargin
+    assert(JsonProtocol.sparkEventFromJson(parse(unknownFieldsJson)) === expected)
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-30936: backwards compatibility - set default values for missing fields") {
+    val expected = TestListenerEvent("foo", 0)
+    val unknownFieldsJson =
+      """{
+        |  "Event" : "org.apache.spark.util.TestListenerEvent",
+        |  "foo" : "foo"
+        |}""".stripMargin
+    assert(JsonProtocol.sparkEventFromJson(parse(unknownFieldsJson)) === expected)
+  }
 }
 
 
@@ -2310,3 +2332,5 @@ private[spark] object JsonProtocolSuite extends Assertions {
       |}
     """.stripMargin
 }
+
+case class TestListenerEvent(foo: String, bar: Int) extends SparkListenerEvent
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/streaming/StreamingQueryListenerSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/streaming/StreamingQueryListenerSuite.scala
index 9d0f829ac9684..6bb1646becf22 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/streaming/StreamingQueryListenerSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/streaming/StreamingQueryListenerSuite.scala
@@ -382,28 +382,27 @@ class StreamingQueryListenerSuite extends StreamTest with BeforeAndAfter {
     }
   }
 
-  testQuietly("ReplayListenerBus should ignore broken event jsons generated in 2.0.0") {
+  testQuietly("ReplayListenerBus should ignore broken event jsons generated in 2_0_0") {
     // query-event-logs-version-2.0.0.txt has all types of events generated by
-    // Structured Streaming in Spark 2.0.0.
+    // Structured Streaming in Spark 2.0.0. Because we renamed the classes,
     // SparkListenerApplicationEnd is the only valid event and it's the last event. We use it
     // to verify that we can skip broken jsons generated by Structured Streaming.
-    testReplayListenerBusWithBorkenEventJsons("query-event-logs-version-2.0.0.txt")
+    testReplayListenerBusWithBorkenEventJsons("query-event-logs-version-2.0.0.txt", 1)
   }
 
-  testQuietly("ReplayListenerBus should ignore broken event jsons generated in 2.0.1") {
+  testQuietly("ReplayListenerBus should ignore broken event jsons generated in 2_0_1") {
     // query-event-logs-version-2.0.1.txt has all types of events generated by
-    // Structured Streaming in Spark 2.0.1.
+    // Structured Streaming in Spark 2.0.1. Because we renamed the classes,
     // SparkListenerApplicationEnd is the only valid event and it's the last event. We use it
     // to verify that we can skip broken jsons generated by Structured Streaming.
-    testReplayListenerBusWithBorkenEventJsons("query-event-logs-version-2.0.1.txt")
+    testReplayListenerBusWithBorkenEventJsons("query-event-logs-version-2.0.1.txt", 1)
   }
 
-  testQuietly("ReplayListenerBus should ignore broken event jsons generated in 2.0.2") {
+  testQuietly("ReplayListenerBus should ignore broken event jsons generated in 2_0_2") {
     // query-event-logs-version-2.0.2.txt has all types of events generated by
-    // Structured Streaming in Spark 2.0.2.
-    // SparkListenerApplicationEnd is the only valid event and it's the last event. We use it
-    // to verify that we can skip broken jsons generated by Structured Streaming.
-    testReplayListenerBusWithBorkenEventJsons("query-event-logs-version-2.0.2.txt")
+    // Structured Streaming in Spark 2.0.2. SPARK-18516 refactored Structured Streaming query events
+    // in 2.1.0. This test is to verify we are able to load events generated by Spark 2.0.2.
+    testReplayListenerBusWithBorkenEventJsons("query-event-logs-version-2.0.2.txt", 5)
   }
 
   test("listener propagates observable metrics") {
@@ -463,7 +462,9 @@ class StreamingQueryListenerSuite extends StreamTest with BeforeAndAfter {
     }
   }
 
-  private def testReplayListenerBusWithBorkenEventJsons(fileName: String): Unit = {
+  private def testReplayListenerBusWithBorkenEventJsons(
+      fileName: String,
+      expectedEventSize: Int): Unit = {
     val input = getClass.getResourceAsStream(s"/structured-streaming/$fileName")
     val events = mutable.ArrayBuffer[SparkListenerEvent]()
     try {
@@ -479,8 +480,8 @@ class StreamingQueryListenerSuite extends StreamTest with BeforeAndAfter {
       replayer.addListener(new SparkListener {})
       replayer.replay(input, fileName)
       // SparkListenerApplicationEnd is the only valid event
-      assert(events.size === 1)
-      assert(events(0).isInstanceOf[SparkListenerApplicationEnd])
+      assert(events.size === expectedEventSize)
+      assert(events.last.isInstanceOf[SparkListenerApplicationEnd])
     } finally {
       input.close()
     }