diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicator.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicator.java
index 55b424d64dc..46afd732da9 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicator.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicator.java
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.client.Requests;
  */
 public class ElasticsearchHealthIndicator extends AbstractHealthIndicator {
 
+	private static final String[] allIndices = { "_all" };
+
 	private final Client client;
 
 	private final ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorProperties properties;
@@ -47,8 +49,8 @@ public class ElasticsearchHealthIndicator extends AbstractHealthIndicator {
 		ClusterHealthResponse response = this.client
 				.admin()
 				.cluster()
-				.health(Requests.clusterHealthRequest(indices.isEmpty() ? null : indices
-						.toArray(new String[indices.size()])))
+				.health(Requests.clusterHealthRequest(indices.isEmpty() ? allIndices
+						: indices.toArray(new String[indices.size()])))
 				.actionGet(this.properties.getResponseTimeout());
 
 		switch (response.getStatus()) {
diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorProperties.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorProperties.java
index 2c52c8c865a..0ba0de5a29a 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorProperties.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorProperties.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationProperties;
  * @author Andy Wilkinson
  * @since 1.3.0
  */
-@ConfigurationProperties("management.health.elasticsearch")
+@ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "management.health.elasticsearch", ignoreUnknownFields = false)
 public class ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorProperties {
 
 	/**
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ public class ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorProperties {
 		return this.indices;
 	}
 
+	public void setIndices(List<String> indices) {
+		this.indices = indices;
+	}
+
 	public long getResponseTimeout() {
 		return this.responseTimeout;
 	}
diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorTests.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorTests.java
index 611ca1086f0..9f8c4d13ed9 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/health/ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorTests.java
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.arrayContaining;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.nullValue;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
 import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.given;
 import static org.mockito.Matchers.any;
@@ -82,7 +81,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchHealthIndicatorTests {
 		given(this.cluster.health(requestCaptor.capture())).willReturn(responseFuture);
 		Health health = this.indicator.health();
 		assertThat(responseFuture.getTimeout, is(100L));
-		assertThat(requestCaptor.getValue().indices(), is(nullValue()));
+		assertThat(requestCaptor.getValue().indices(), is(arrayContaining("_all")));
 		assertThat(health.getStatus(), is(Status.UP));
 	}