diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient.java
index 4f687c36e..092857e2e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient.java
@@ -809,6 +809,9 @@ public class DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient implements ReactiveElasticsearch
 		String mediaType = response.headers().contentType().map(MediaType::toString).orElse(XContentType.JSON.mediaType());
 
 		return response.body(BodyExtractors.toMono(byte[].class)) //
+				.switchIfEmpty(Mono.error(
+						new ElasticsearchStatusException(String.format("%s request to %s returned error code %s and no body.",
+								request.getMethod(), request.getEndpoint(), statusCode), status)))
 				.map(bytes -> new String(bytes, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) //
 				.flatMap(content -> contentOrError(content, mediaType, status))
 				.flatMap(unused -> Mono
@@ -834,7 +837,7 @@ public class DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient implements ReactiveElasticsearch
 	/**
 	 * checks if the given content body contains an {@link ElasticsearchException}, if yes it is returned in a Mono.error.
 	 * Otherwise the content is returned in the Mono
-	 * 
+	 *
 	 * @param content the content to analyze
 	 * @param mediaType the returned media type
 	 * @param status the response status
@@ -855,7 +858,7 @@ public class DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient implements ReactiveElasticsearch
 
 	/**
 	 * tries to parse an {@link ElasticsearchException} from the given body content
-	 * 
+	 *
 	 * @param content the content to analyse
 	 * @param mediaType the type of the body content
 	 * @return an {@link ElasticsearchException} or {@literal null}.
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClientTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClientTest.java
index 7e7000bd1..fad8da364 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClientTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClientTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2020 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2020-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -19,23 +19,31 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.*;
 import static org.elasticsearch.search.internal.SearchContext.*;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
 
-import org.elasticsearch.search.fetch.subphase.FetchSourceContext;
 import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
+import reactor.test.StepVerifier;
 
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchStatusException;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.get.GetRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Request;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.builder.SearchSourceBuilder;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.elasticsearch.search.fetch.subphase.FetchSourceContext;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
 import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
 import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.Spy;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
+import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
 import org.springframework.web.reactive.function.client.ClientResponse;
-import reactor.test.StepVerifier;
+import org.springframework.web.reactive.function.client.WebClient;
+import org.springframework.web.util.UriBuilder;
 
 /**
  * @author Peter-Josef Meisch
@@ -46,29 +54,23 @@ class DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClientTest {
 	@Mock private HostProvider hostProvider;
 
 	@Mock private Function<SearchRequest, Request> searchRequestConverter;
+	@Spy private RequestCreator requestCreator;
 
-	private DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient client;
+	@Mock private WebClient webClient;
 
-	@BeforeEach
-	void setUp() {
-		client = new DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient(hostProvider, new RequestCreator() {
-			@Override
-			public Function<SearchRequest, Request> search() {
-				return searchRequestConverter;
-			}
-		}) {
+	@Test
+	void shouldSetAppropriateRequestParametersOnCount() {
+
+		when(requestCreator.search()).thenReturn(searchRequestConverter);
+		SearchRequest searchRequest = new SearchRequest("someindex") //
+				.source(new SearchSourceBuilder().query(QueryBuilders.matchAllQuery()));
+
+		ReactiveElasticsearchClient client = new DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient(hostProvider, requestCreator) {
 			@Override
 			public Mono<ClientResponse> execute(ReactiveElasticsearchClientCallback callback) {
 				return Mono.empty();
 			}
 		};
-	}
-
-	@Test
-	void shouldSetAppropriateRequestParametersOnCount() {
-
-		SearchRequest searchRequest = new SearchRequest("someindex") //
-				.source(new SearchSourceBuilder().query(QueryBuilders.matchAllQuery()));
 
 		client.count(searchRequest).as(StepVerifier::create).verifyComplete();
 
@@ -79,4 +81,31 @@ class DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClientTest {
 		assertThat(source.trackTotalHitsUpTo()).isEqualTo(TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_ACCURATE);
 		assertThat(source.fetchSource()).isEqualTo(FetchSourceContext.DO_NOT_FETCH_SOURCE);
 	}
+
+	@Test // #1712
+	@DisplayName("should throw ElasticsearchStatusException on server 5xx with empty body")
+	void shouldThrowElasticsearchStatusExceptionOnServer5xxWithEmptyBody() {
+
+		when(hostProvider.getActive(any())).thenReturn(Mono.just(webClient));
+		WebClient.RequestBodyUriSpec requestBodyUriSpec = mock(WebClient.RequestBodyUriSpec.class);
+		when(requestBodyUriSpec.uri((Function<UriBuilder, URI>) any())).thenReturn(requestBodyUriSpec);
+		when(requestBodyUriSpec.attribute(any(), any())).thenReturn(requestBodyUriSpec);
+		when(requestBodyUriSpec.headers(any())).thenReturn(requestBodyUriSpec);
+		when(webClient.method(any())).thenReturn(requestBodyUriSpec);
+
+		ClientResponse clientResponse = mock(ClientResponse.class);
+        when(clientResponse.statusCode()).thenReturn(HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE);
+        ClientResponse.Headers headers = mock(ClientResponse.Headers.class);
+        when(headers.contentType()).thenReturn(Optional.empty());
+        when(clientResponse.headers()).thenReturn(headers);
+        when(clientResponse.body(any())).thenReturn(Mono.empty());
+        when(requestBodyUriSpec.exchange()).thenReturn(Mono.just(clientResponse));
+
+		ReactiveElasticsearchClient client = new DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient(hostProvider, requestCreator);
+
+		client.get(new GetRequest("42")) //
+				.as(StepVerifier::create) //
+				.expectError(ElasticsearchStatusException.class) //
+				.verify(); //
+	}
 }