diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/netty/Inbox.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/netty/Inbox.scala
index c72b588db57fe..a34888a90d920 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/netty/Inbox.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rpc/netty/Inbox.scala
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ import javax.annotation.concurrent.GuardedBy
 
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
-import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting
-
 import org.apache.spark.{Logging, SparkException}
 import org.apache.spark.rpc.{RpcAddress, RpcEndpoint, ThreadSafeRpcEndpoint}
 
@@ -193,8 +191,8 @@ private[netty] class Inbox(
 
   def isEmpty: Boolean = inbox.synchronized { messages.isEmpty }
 
-  /** Called when we are dropping a message. Test cases override this to test message dropping. */
-  @VisibleForTesting
+  /** Called when we are dropping a message. Test cases override this to test message dropping.
+   * Exposed for testing. */
   protected def onDrop(message: InboxMessage): Unit = {
     logWarning(s"Drop $message because $endpointRef is stopped")
   }
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/ui/jobs/JobProgressListener.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/ui/jobs/JobProgressListener.scala
index 77d034fa5ba2c..ca37829216f22 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/ui/jobs/JobProgressListener.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/ui/jobs/JobProgressListener.scala
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
 
 import scala.collection.mutable.{HashMap, HashSet, ListBuffer}
 
-import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting
-
 import org.apache.spark._
 import org.apache.spark.annotation.DeveloperApi
 import org.apache.spark.executor.TaskMetrics
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/AsynchronousListenerBus.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/AsynchronousListenerBus.scala
index 61b5a4cecddce..c20627b056bef 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/AsynchronousListenerBus.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/AsynchronousListenerBus.scala
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ package org.apache.spark.util
 import java.util.concurrent._
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
 
-import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting
 import org.apache.spark.SparkContext
 
 /**
@@ -122,8 +121,8 @@ private[spark] abstract class AsynchronousListenerBus[L <: AnyRef, E](name: Stri
    * For testing only. Wait until there are no more events in the queue, or until the specified
    * time has elapsed. Throw `TimeoutException` if the specified time elapsed before the queue
    * emptied.
+   * Exposed for testing.
    */
-  @VisibleForTesting
   @throws(classOf[TimeoutException])
   def waitUntilEmpty(timeoutMillis: Long): Unit = {
     val finishTime = System.currentTimeMillis + timeoutMillis
@@ -140,8 +139,8 @@ private[spark] abstract class AsynchronousListenerBus[L <: AnyRef, E](name: Stri
 
   /**
    * For testing only. Return whether the listener daemon thread is still alive.
+   * Exposed for testing.
    */
-  @VisibleForTesting
   def listenerThreadIsAlive: Boolean = listenerThread.isAlive
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
index a44e72b7c16d3..bd6844d045cad 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import java.util.Comparator
 import scala.collection.mutable.ArrayBuffer
 import scala.collection.mutable
 
-import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting
 import com.google.common.io.ByteStreams
 
 import org.apache.spark._
@@ -608,8 +607,8 @@ private[spark] class ExternalSorter[K, V, C](
    *
    * For now, we just merge all the spilled files in once pass, but this can be modified to
    * support hierarchical merging.
+   * Exposed for testing.
    */
-  @VisibleForTesting
   def partitionedIterator: Iterator[(Int, Iterator[Product2[K, C]])] = {
     val usingMap = aggregator.isDefined
     val collection: WritablePartitionedPairCollection[K, C] = if (usingMap) map else buffer
diff --git a/scalastyle-config.xml b/scalastyle-config.xml
index 64a0c71bbef2a..050c3f360476f 100644
--- a/scalastyle-config.xml
+++ b/scalastyle-config.xml
@@ -150,6 +150,13 @@ This file is divided into 3 sections:
       // scalastyle:on println]]></customMessage>
   </check>
 
+  <check customId="visiblefortesting" level="error" class="org.scalastyle.file.RegexChecker" enabled="true">
+    <parameters><parameter name="regex">@VisibleForTesting</parameter></parameters>
+    <customMessage><![CDATA[
+      @VisibleForTesting auses classpath issues. Please note this in the java doc instead (SPARK-11615).
+    ]]></customMessage>
+  </check>
+
   <check customId="classforname" level="error" class="org.scalastyle.file.RegexChecker" enabled="true">
     <parameters><parameter name="regex">Class\.forName</parameter></parameters>
     <customMessage><![CDATA[
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/QueryExecution.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/QueryExecution.scala
index c2142d03f422b..77843f53b9bd0 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/QueryExecution.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/QueryExecution.scala
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql.execution
 
-import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting
-
 import org.apache.spark.rdd.RDD
 import org.apache.spark.sql.SQLContext
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.InternalRow
@@ -33,7 +31,6 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.logical.LogicalPlan
  */
 class QueryExecution(val sqlContext: SQLContext, val logical: LogicalPlan) {
 
-  @VisibleForTesting
   def assertAnalyzed(): Unit = sqlContext.analyzer.checkAnalysis(analyzed)
 
   lazy val analyzed: LogicalPlan = sqlContext.analyzer.execute(logical)
diff --git a/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/network/shuffle/ShuffleTestAccessor.scala b/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/network/shuffle/ShuffleTestAccessor.scala
index aa46ec5100f0e..94bf579dc8247 100644
--- a/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/network/shuffle/ShuffleTestAccessor.scala
+++ b/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/network/shuffle/ShuffleTestAccessor.scala
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package org.apache.spark.network.shuffle
 import java.io.{IOException, File}
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap
 
-import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.records.ApplicationId
 import org.fusesource.leveldbjni.JniDBFactory
 import org.iq80.leveldb.{DB, Options}