diff --git a/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/parse/CalcitePlanner.java b/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/parse/CalcitePlanner.java
index ecc226d42a2e..d2e2340d2532 100644
--- a/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/parse/CalcitePlanner.java
+++ b/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/parse/CalcitePlanner.java
@@ -643,9 +643,19 @@ Operator genOPTree(ASTNode ast, PlannerContext plannerCtx) throws SemanticExcept
           LOG.info("CBO Succeeded; optimized logical plan.");
           this.ctx.setCboInfo(getOptimizedByCboInfo());
           this.ctx.setCboSucceeded(true);
-          if (this.ctx.isExplainPlan()) {
+
+          boolean needExplainPlan = this.ctx.isExplainPlan() || this.conf.getBoolVar(ConfVars.HIVE_LOG_EXPLAIN_OUTPUT);
+          if (needExplainPlan) {
             // Enrich explain with information derived from CBO
+            // ensure the context gets a CBO plan if HIVE_LOG_EXPLAIN_OUTPUT is true
             ExplainConfiguration explainConfig = this.ctx.getExplainConfig();
+            if (explainConfig == null) {
+              explainConfig = new ExplainConfiguration();
+              explainConfig.setCbo(true);
+              explainConfig.setCboJoinCost(true);
+              explainConfig.setFormatted(true);
+            }
+
             if (explainConfig.isCbo()) {
               if (!explainConfig.isCboJoinCost()) {
                 // Include cost as provided by Calcite
diff --git a/ql/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/parse/TestCalcitePlanner.java b/ql/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/parse/TestCalcitePlanner.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..885010105ea9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ql/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/parse/TestCalcitePlanner.java
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.parse;
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConfForTest;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.Context;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.QueryState;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.exec.Operator;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.security.authorization.plugin.sqlstd.SQLStdConfOnlyAuthorizerFactory;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.session.SessionState;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+/**
+ * Note: this test is not thread-safe!
+ */
+public class TestCalcitePlanner {
+  static QueryState queryState;
+
+  ParseDriver pd;
+  CalcitePlanner planner;
+
+  @BeforeClass
+  public static void initialize() throws Exception {
+    HiveConf conf = new HiveConfForTest(TestCalcitePlanner.class);
+    conf.set(HiveConf.ConfVars.HIVE_AUTHORIZATION_ENABLED.varname, "false");
+    conf.set(HiveConf.ConfVars.HIVE_AUTHORIZATION_MANAGER.varname,
+        SQLStdConfOnlyAuthorizerFactory.class.getCanonicalName());
+    queryState = new QueryState.Builder().withHiveConf(conf).build();
+    SessionState.start(conf);
+  }
+
+  @Before
+  public void setup() throws SemanticException {
+    pd = new ParseDriver();
+    planner = new CalcitePlanner(queryState);
+  }
+
+  ASTNode parse(String query) throws ParseException {
+    ASTNode nd = pd.parse(query).getTree();
+    return (ASTNode) nd.getChild(0);
+  }
+
+  private Context getContext(String sql) throws ParseException, SemanticException {
+    ASTNode ast = parse(sql);
+    Context ctx = new Context(queryState.getConf());
+    planner.init(false);
+    planner.initCtx(ctx);
+    SemanticAnalyzer.PlannerContext pctx = new CalcitePlanner.PreCboCtx();
+    planner.genResolvedParseTree(ast, pctx);
+    Operator<?> operator = planner.genOPTree(ast, pctx);
+    assertNotNull(operator);
+    return ctx;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The planner should store the Calcite plan in the context when HIVE_LOG_EXPLAIN_OUTPUT is enabled.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testCBOLogging() throws Exception {
+    queryState.getConf().setBoolVar(HiveConf.ConfVars.HIVE_LOG_EXPLAIN_OUTPUT, true);
+    Context ctx = getContext("select 1");
+    String calcitePlan = ctx.getCalcitePlan();
+    assertNotNull(calcitePlan);
+    assertTrue("Expected a RelNode plan containing \"HiveProject\", but was:\n" + calcitePlan,
+        calcitePlan.contains("HiveProject"));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The planner shall not store the Calcite plan in the context when HIVE_LOG_EXPLAIN_OUTPUT is disabled.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testNoCBOLogging() throws Exception {
+    queryState.getConf().setBoolVar(HiveConf.ConfVars.HIVE_LOG_EXPLAIN_OUTPUT, false);
+    Context ctx = getContext("select 1");
+    String calcitePlan = ctx.getCalcitePlan();
+    assertNull(calcitePlan);
+  }
+}