diff --git a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/livy/LivyClientBuilder.java b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/livy/LivyClientBuilder.java
index 1d7ec0183..654b5502a 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/livy/LivyClientBuilder.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/livy/LivyClientBuilder.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 public final class LivyClientBuilder {
 
   public static final String LIVY_URI_KEY = "livy.uri";
+  public static final String LIVY_SESSION_ID_KEY = "livy.sessionId";
 
   private static final ServiceLoader<LivyClientFactory> CLIENT_FACTORY_LOADER =
     ServiceLoader.load(LivyClientFactory.class, classLoader());
@@ -96,11 +97,32 @@ public LivyClientBuilder(boolean loadDefaults) throws IOException {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Sets the URI of the Livy server the client will connect to. If the URI contains
+   * <pre>sessions/{sessionId}</pre>, the client will connect to the specified existing session;
+   * otherwise it will create a new session.
+   *
+   * @param uri The URI of Livy server.
+   * @return The builder itself.
+   */
   public LivyClientBuilder setURI(URI uri) {
     config.setProperty(LIVY_URI_KEY, uri.toString());
     return this;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Sets the session ID the client will connect to. If a session ID is set, the chosen session
+   * will be used with its own configurations, so Spark configurations will be ignored. If not set,
+   * a new session will be created when the client is built.
+   *
+   * @param sessionId The ID of the session to attach to.
+   * @return the builder itself.
+   */
+  public LivyClientBuilder setSessionId(int sessionId) {
+    config.setProperty(LIVY_SESSION_ID_KEY, String.valueOf(sessionId));
+    return this;
+  }
+
   public LivyClientBuilder setConf(String key, String value) {
     if (value != null) {
       config.setProperty(key, value);
diff --git a/client-http/src/main/java/org/apache/livy/client/http/HttpClient.java b/client-http/src/main/java/org/apache/livy/client/http/HttpClient.java
index f40148f94..82d76d5ee 100644
--- a/client-http/src/main/java/org/apache/livy/client/http/HttpClient.java
+++ b/client-http/src/main/java/org/apache/livy/client/http/HttpClient.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 import org.apache.livy.Job;
 import org.apache.livy.JobHandle;
 import org.apache.livy.LivyClient;
+import org.apache.livy.LivyClientBuilder;
 import org.apache.livy.client.common.Serializer;
 import static org.apache.livy.client.common.HttpMessages.*;
 
@@ -59,9 +60,17 @@ class HttpClient implements LivyClient {
     // unused.
     Matcher m = Pattern.compile("(.*)" + LivyConnection.SESSIONS_URI + "/([0-9]+)")
       .matcher(uri.getPath());
+    String sessionIdFromConf = httpConf.get(LivyClientBuilder.LIVY_SESSION_ID_KEY);
 
     try {
-      if (m.matches()) {
+      if (sessionIdFromConf != null && m.matches()) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+          "Cannot set existing session both from URI and configuration");
+      } else if (sessionIdFromConf != null) {
+        this.conn = new LivyConnection(uri, httpConf);
+        this.sessionId = Integer.parseInt(sessionIdFromConf);
+        conn.post(null, SessionInfo.class, "/%d/connect", sessionId);
+      } else if (m.matches()) {
         URI base = new URI(uri.getScheme(), uri.getUserInfo(), uri.getHost(), uri.getPort(),
           m.group(1), uri.getQuery(), uri.getFragment());
 
diff --git a/client-http/src/test/scala/org/apache/livy/client/http/HttpClientSpec.scala b/client-http/src/test/scala/org/apache/livy/client/http/HttpClientSpec.scala
index f53d9f5b4..7ca4f796a 100644
--- a/client-http/src/test/scala/org/apache/livy/client/http/HttpClientSpec.scala
+++ b/client-http/src/test/scala/org/apache/livy/client/http/HttpClientSpec.scala
@@ -181,8 +181,8 @@ class HttpClientSpec extends FunSpecLike with BeforeAndAfterAll with LivyBaseUni
       testJob(false, response = Some(null))
     }
 
-    withClient("should connect to existing sessions") {
-      var sid = client.asInstanceOf[HttpClient].getSessionId()
+    withClient("should connect to existing sessions using the URI") {
+      val sid = client.asInstanceOf[HttpClient].getSessionId()
       val uri = s"http://${InetAddress.getLocalHost.getHostAddress}:${server.port}" +
         s"${LivyConnection.SESSIONS_URI}/$sid"
       val newClient = new LivyClientBuilder(false).setURI(new URI(uri)).build()
@@ -190,6 +190,25 @@ class HttpClientSpec extends FunSpecLike with BeforeAndAfterAll with LivyBaseUni
       verify(session, never()).stop()
     }
 
+    withClient("should connect to existing sessions using the conf") {
+      val sid = client.asInstanceOf[HttpClient].getSessionId()
+      val uri = s"http://${InetAddress.getLocalHost.getHostAddress}:${server.port}"
+      val newClient = new LivyClientBuilder(false).setURI(new URI(uri)).setSessionId(sid).build()
+      newClient.stop(false)
+      verify(session, never()).stop()
+    }
+
+    withClient("should throw an exception if the sessionId is set through conf and URI") {
+      val sid = client.asInstanceOf[HttpClient].getSessionId()
+      val uri = s"http://${InetAddress.getLocalHost.getHostAddress}:${server.port}" +
+        s"${LivyConnection.SESSIONS_URI}/$sid"
+      intercept[IllegalArgumentException]{
+        val newClient = new LivyClientBuilder(false).setURI(new URI(uri)).setSessionId(sid).build()
+        newClient.stop(false)
+        verify(session, never()).stop()
+      }
+    }
+
     withClient("should tear down clients") {
       client.stop(true)
       verify(session, times(1)).stop()