diff --git a/solr/CHANGES.txt b/solr/CHANGES.txt
index 87490d92921..468e46a4525 100644
--- a/solr/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/solr/CHANGES.txt
@@ -114,6 +114,9 @@ Optimizations
 
 * SOLR-5232: SolrCloud should distribute updates via streaming rather than buffering.
   (Mark Miller)
+
+* SOLR-5223: SolrCloud should use the JavaBin binary format for communication by default. 
+  (Mark Miller)
   
 Security
 ----------------------
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/StreamingSolrServers.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/StreamingSolrServers.java
index a2573052813..9c1d2caafd0 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/StreamingSolrServers.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/StreamingSolrServers.java
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ public class StreamingSolrServers {
           errors.add(error);
         }
       };
-
+      server.setParser(new BinaryResponseParser());
+      server.setRequestWriter(new BinaryRequestWriter());
       server.setPollQueueTime(0);
       solrServers.put(url, server);
     }
diff --git a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/CloudSolrServer.java b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/CloudSolrServer.java
index f43bb81b310..b6537be818b 100644
--- a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/CloudSolrServer.java
+++ b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/CloudSolrServer.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServer;
 import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServerException;
 import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.request.AbstractUpdateRequest;
 import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.request.IsUpdateRequest;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.request.RequestWriter;
 import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.request.UpdateRequest;
 import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.util.ClientUtils;
 import org.apache.solr.common.SolrException;
@@ -122,6 +123,8 @@ public class CloudSolrServer extends SolrServer {
       this.zkHost = zkHost;
       this.myClient = HttpClientUtil.createClient(null);
       this.lbServer = new LBHttpSolrServer(myClient);
+      this.lbServer.setRequestWriter(new BinaryRequestWriter());
+      this.lbServer.setParser(new BinaryResponseParser());
       this.updatesToLeaders = true;
       shutdownLBHttpSolrServer = true;
   }
@@ -131,6 +134,8 @@ public class CloudSolrServer extends SolrServer {
     this.zkHost = zkHost;
     this.myClient = HttpClientUtil.createClient(null);
     this.lbServer = new LBHttpSolrServer(myClient);
+    this.lbServer.setRequestWriter(new BinaryRequestWriter());
+    this.lbServer.setParser(new BinaryResponseParser());
     this.updatesToLeaders = updatesToLeaders;
     shutdownLBHttpSolrServer = true;
   }
@@ -175,6 +180,14 @@ public class CloudSolrServer extends SolrServer {
   public void setParser(ResponseParser processor) {
     lbServer.setParser(processor);
   }
+  
+  public RequestWriter getRequestWriter() {
+    return lbServer.getRequestWriter();
+  }
+  
+  public void setRequestWriter(RequestWriter requestWriter) {
+    lbServer.setRequestWriter(requestWriter);
+  }
 
   public ZkStateReader getZkStateReader() {
     return zkStateReader;
diff --git a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/LBHttpSolrServer.java b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/LBHttpSolrServer.java
index 07a2257cf00..c68662ee2f9 100644
--- a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/LBHttpSolrServer.java
+++ b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/LBHttpSolrServer.java
@@ -606,6 +606,10 @@ public class LBHttpSolrServer extends SolrServer {
     this.requestWriter = requestWriter;
   }
   
+  public RequestWriter getRequestWriter() {
+    return requestWriter;
+  }
+  
   @Override
   protected void finalize() throws Throwable {
     try {