diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchTemplate.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchTemplate.java
index c4d7dd03b..c431c20dd 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchTemplate.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchTemplate.java
@@ -864,7 +864,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchTemplate implements ElasticsearchOperations, Applicati
 			}
 		}
 		
-		if (searchQuery.getIndicesBoost() != null) {
+		if (CollectionUtils.isNotEmpty(searchQuery.getIndicesBoost())) {
 			for (IndexBoost indexBoost : searchQuery.getIndicesBoost()) {
 				searchRequest.addIndexBoost(indexBoost.getIndexName(), indexBoost.getBoost());
 			}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/NativeSearchQuery.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/NativeSearchQuery.java
index e2e9bed68..c1f3dfc6c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/NativeSearchQuery.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/NativeSearchQuery.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public class NativeSearchQuery extends AbstractQuery implements SearchQuery {
 	private List<FacetRequest> facets;
 	private List<AbstractAggregationBuilder> aggregations;
 	private HighlightBuilder.Field[] highlightFields;
-	private IndexBoost[] indicesBoost;
+	private List<IndexBoost> indicesBoost;
 
 
 	public NativeSearchQuery(QueryBuilder query) {
@@ -132,11 +132,11 @@ public class NativeSearchQuery extends AbstractQuery implements SearchQuery {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public IndexBoost[] getIndicesBoost() {
+	public List<IndexBoost> getIndicesBoost() {
 		return indicesBoost;
 	}
 
-	public void setIndicesBoost(IndexBoost... indicesBoost) {
+	public void setIndicesBoost(List<IndexBoost> indicesBoost) {
 		this.indicesBoost = indicesBoost;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/NativeSearchQueryBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/NativeSearchQueryBuilder.java
index 8be64c562..20d9b00e8 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/NativeSearchQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/NativeSearchQueryBuilder.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public class NativeSearchQueryBuilder {
 	private String[] indices;
 	private String[] types;
 	private String[] fields;
-	private IndexBoost[] indicesBoost;
+	private List<IndexBoost> indicesBoost;
 	private float minScore;
 	private Collection<String> ids;
 	private String route;
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ public class NativeSearchQueryBuilder {
 		return this;
 	}
 
-	public NativeSearchQueryBuilder withIndicesBoost(IndexBoost... indicesBoost) {
+	public NativeSearchQueryBuilder withIndicesBoost(List<IndexBoost> indicesBoost) {
 		this.indicesBoost = indicesBoost;
 		return this;
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/SearchQuery.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/SearchQuery.java
index 83057a898..fb8fb7ff5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/SearchQuery.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/query/SearchQuery.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public interface SearchQuery extends Query {
 
 	HighlightBuilder.Field[] getHighlightFields();
 
-	IndexBoost[] getIndicesBoost();
+	List<IndexBoost> getIndicesBoost();
 
     List<ScriptField> getScriptFields();