diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/controller/KafkaController.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/controller/KafkaController.scala
index 103f6cf575d43..6c503a57a23f0 100755
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/controller/KafkaController.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/controller/KafkaController.scala
@@ -23,15 +23,16 @@ import org.apache.kafka.common.protocol.ApiKeys
 import org.apache.kafka.common.requests.{AbstractRequest, AbstractRequestResponse}
 
 import scala.collection._
-import com.yammer.metrics.core.Gauge
+import com.yammer.metrics.core.{Gauge, Meter}
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+
 import kafka.admin.AdminUtils
 import kafka.admin.PreferredReplicaLeaderElectionCommand
 import kafka.api._
 import kafka.cluster.Broker
 import kafka.common._
 import kafka.log.LogConfig
-import kafka.metrics.{KafkaTimer, KafkaMetricsGroup}
+import kafka.metrics.{KafkaMetricsGroup, KafkaTimer}
 import kafka.utils.ZkUtils._
 import kafka.utils._
 import kafka.utils.CoreUtils._
@@ -39,8 +40,9 @@ import org.apache.zookeeper.Watcher.Event.KeeperState
 import org.apache.kafka.common.metrics.Metrics
 import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Time
 import org.I0Itec.zkclient.{IZkChildListener, IZkDataListener, IZkStateListener, ZkClient, ZkConnection}
-import org.I0Itec.zkclient.exception.{ZkNodeExistsException, ZkNoNodeException}
+import org.I0Itec.zkclient.exception.{ZkNoNodeException, ZkNodeExistsException}
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock
+
 import kafka.server._
 import kafka.common.TopicAndPartition
 
@@ -1468,6 +1470,13 @@ case class LeaderIsrAndControllerEpoch(leaderAndIsr: LeaderAndIsr, controllerEpo
 }
 
 object ControllerStats extends KafkaMetricsGroup {
-  val uncleanLeaderElectionRate = newMeter("UncleanLeaderElectionsPerSec", "elections", TimeUnit.SECONDS)
-  val leaderElectionTimer = new KafkaTimer(newTimer("LeaderElectionRateAndTimeMs", TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, TimeUnit.SECONDS))
+
+  private val _uncleanLeaderElectionRate = newMeter("UncleanLeaderElectionsPerSec", "elections", TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+  private val _leaderElectionTimer = new KafkaTimer(newTimer("LeaderElectionRateAndTimeMs", TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, TimeUnit.SECONDS))
+
+  // KafkaServer needs to initialize controller metrics during startup. We perform initialization
+  // through method calls to avoid Scala compiler warnings.
+  def uncleanLeaderElectionRate: Meter = _uncleanLeaderElectionRate
+
+  def leaderElectionTimer: KafkaTimer = _leaderElectionTimer
 }