diff --git a/pkg/NAMESPACE b/pkg/NAMESPACE
index 63c05605f67bb..6b649bc90bccb 100644
--- a/pkg/NAMESPACE
+++ b/pkg/NAMESPACE
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ exportMethods(
               "foreachPartition",
               "groupByKey",
               "join",
+              "keyBy",
               "keys",
               "length",
               "lapply",
diff --git a/pkg/R/RDD.R b/pkg/R/RDD.R
index b641d43a0fc8d..2237f45dafd87 100644
--- a/pkg/R/RDD.R
+++ b/pkg/R/RDD.R
@@ -1036,6 +1036,31 @@ setMethod("takeSample", signature(rdd = "RDD", withReplacement = "logical",
             sample(samples)[1:total]
           })
 
+#' Creates tuples of the elements in this RDD by applying a function.
+#'
+#' @param rdd The RDD.
+#' @param func The function to be applied.
+#' @rdname keyBy
+#' @export
+#' @examples
+#'\dontrun{
+#' sc <- sparkR.init()
+#' rdd <- parallelize(sc, list(1, 2, 3))
+#' collect(keyBy(rdd, function(x) { x*x })) # list(list(1, 1), list(4, 2), list(9, 3))
+#'}
+setGeneric("keyBy", function(rdd, func) { standardGeneric("keyBy") })
+
+#' @rdname keyBy
+#' @aliases keyBy,RDD
+setMethod("keyBy",
+          signature(rdd = "RDD", func = "function"),
+          function(rdd, func) {
+            apply.func <- function(x) {
+              list(func(x), x)
+            }
+            lapply(rdd, apply.func)
+          })
+
 #' Return an RDD with the keys of each tuple.
 #'
 #' @param rdd The RDD from which the keys of each tuple is returned.
diff --git a/pkg/inst/tests/test_rdd.R b/pkg/inst/tests/test_rdd.R
index e6d6a63d214ad..dfd96f15981b4 100644
--- a/pkg/inst/tests/test_rdd.R
+++ b/pkg/inst/tests/test_rdd.R
@@ -246,6 +246,13 @@ test_that("minimum() on RDDs", {
   expect_equal(min, 1)
 })
 
+test_that("keyBy on RDDs", {
+  func <- function(x) { x*x }
+  keys <- keyBy(rdd, func)
+  actual <- collect(keys)
+  expect_equal(actual, lapply(nums, function(x) { list(func(x), x) }))
+})
+
 test_that("keys() on RDDs", {
   keys <- keys(intRdd)
   actual <- collect(keys)
diff --git a/pkg/man/keyBy.Rd b/pkg/man/keyBy.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d4fb45d4965df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/man/keyBy.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2 (4.0.2): do not edit by hand
+\docType{methods}
+\name{keyBy}
+\alias{keyBy}
+\alias{keyBy,RDD}
+\alias{keyBy,RDD,function-method}
+\title{Creates tuples of the elements in this RDD by applying a function.}
+\usage{
+keyBy(rdd, func)
+
+\S4method{keyBy}{RDD,`function`}(rdd, func)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{rdd}{The RDD.}
+
+\item{func}{The function to be applied.}
+}
+\description{
+Creates tuples of the elements in this RDD by applying a function.
+}
+\examples{
+\dontrun{
+sc <- sparkR.init()
+rdd <- parallelize(sc, list(1, 2, 3))
+collect(keyBy(rdd, function(x) { x*x })) # list(list(1, 1), list(4, 2), list(9, 3))
+}
+}
+