diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration.java b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration.java
index 24d91fef597..89a7cb96381 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration.java
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration.java
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 
 package org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.elasticsearch;
 
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
@@ -52,6 +55,14 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 @EnableConfigurationProperties(ElasticsearchProperties.class)
 public class ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration implements DisposableBean {
 
+	private static final Map<String, String> DEFAULTS;
+	static {
+		Map<String, String> defaults = new LinkedHashMap<String, String>();
+		defaults.put("http.enabled", String.valueOf(false));
+		defaults.put("node.local", String.valueOf(true));
+		DEFAULTS = Collections.unmodifiableMap(defaults);
+	}
+
 	private static Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration.class);
 
 	@Autowired
@@ -77,11 +88,15 @@ public class ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration implements DisposableBean {
 	}
 
 	private Client createNodeClient() throws Exception {
-		ImmutableSettings.Builder settings = ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder()
-				.put("http.enabled", String.valueOf(false))
-				.put(this.properties.getProperties());
+		ImmutableSettings.Builder settings = ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder();
+		for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : DEFAULTS.entrySet()) {
+			if (!this.properties.getProperties().containsKey(entry.getKey())) {
+				settings.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
+			}
+		}
+		settings.put(this.properties.getProperties());
 		Node node = new NodeBuilder().settings(settings)
-				.clusterName(this.properties.getClusterName()).local(true).node();
+				.clusterName(this.properties.getClusterName()).node();
 		this.releasable = node;
 		return node.client();
 	}
diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchAutoConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchAutoConfigurationTests.java
index 80452211f16..3afe4edd55d 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchAutoConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchAutoConfigurationTests.java
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import org.springframework.boot.test.EnvironmentTestUtils;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
@@ -53,7 +52,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchAutoConfigurationTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void createNodeClient() {
+	public void createNodeClientWithDefaults() {
 		this.context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext();
 		EnvironmentTestUtils.addEnvironment(this.context,
 				"spring.data.elasticsearch.properties.foo.bar:baz",
@@ -63,9 +62,31 @@ public class ElasticsearchAutoConfigurationTests {
 				ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration.class);
 		this.context.refresh();
 		assertEquals(1, this.context.getBeanNamesForType(Client.class).length);
-		Client client = this.context.getBean(Client.class);
-		assertThat(client, instanceOf(NodeClient.class));
-		assertThat(((NodeClient) client).settings().get("foo.bar"), is(equalTo("baz")));
+		NodeClient client = (NodeClient) this.context.getBean(Client.class);
+		assertThat(client.settings().get("foo.bar"), is(equalTo("baz")));
+		assertThat(client.settings().get("node.local"), is(equalTo("true")));
+		assertThat(client.settings().get("http.enabled"), is(equalTo("false")));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void createNodeClientWithOverrides() {
+		this.context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext();
+		EnvironmentTestUtils.addEnvironment(this.context,
+				"spring.data.elasticsearch.properties.foo.bar:baz",
+				"spring.data.elasticsearch.properties.path.data:target/data",
+				"spring.data.elasticsearch.properties.path.logs:target/logs",
+				"spring.data.elasticsearch.properties.node.local:false",
+				"spring.data.elasticsearch.properties.node.data:true",
+				"spring.data.elasticsearch.properties.http.enabled:true");
+		this.context.register(PropertyPlaceholderAutoConfiguration.class,
+				ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration.class);
+		this.context.refresh();
+		assertEquals(1, this.context.getBeanNamesForType(Client.class).length);
+		NodeClient client = (NodeClient) this.context.getBean(Client.class);
+		assertThat(client.settings().get("foo.bar"), is(equalTo("baz")));
+		assertThat(client.settings().get("node.local"), is(equalTo("false")));
+		assertThat(client.settings().get("node.data"), is(equalTo("true")));
+		assertThat(client.settings().get("http.enabled"), is(equalTo("true")));
 	}
 
 	@Test