diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ReindexIT.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ReindexIT.java
index 256e38da858..1c33a7e183e 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ReindexIT.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ReindexIT.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.node.tasks.list.ListTasksRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.node.tasks.list.ListTasksResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.node.tasks.list.TaskGroup;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkItemResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.get.GetRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequest;
@@ -40,7 +41,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.BulkByScrollResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.DeleteByQueryAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.DeleteByQueryRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.ReindexRequest;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.ScrollableHitSource;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.UpdateByQueryAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.UpdateByQueryRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestStatus;
@@ -179,10 +179,10 @@ public class ReindexIT extends ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase {
         final BulkByScrollResponse response = highLevelClient().reindex(reindexRequest, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
 
         assertThat(response.getVersionConflicts(), equalTo(2L));
-        assertThat(response.getBulkFailures(), empty());
-        assertThat(response.getSearchFailures(), hasSize(2));
+        assertThat(response.getSearchFailures(), empty());
+        assertThat(response.getBulkFailures(), hasSize(2));
         assertThat(
-            response.getSearchFailures().stream().map(ScrollableHitSource.SearchFailure::toString).collect(Collectors.toSet()),
+            response.getBulkFailures().stream().map(BulkItemResponse.Failure::getMessage).collect(Collectors.toSet()),
             everyItem(containsString("version conflict"))
         );
 
@@ -328,10 +328,10 @@ public class ReindexIT extends ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase {
         final BulkByScrollResponse response = highLevelClient().updateByQuery(updateByQueryRequest, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
 
         assertThat(response.getVersionConflicts(), equalTo(1L));
-        assertThat(response.getBulkFailures(), empty());
-        assertThat(response.getSearchFailures(), hasSize(1));
+        assertThat(response.getSearchFailures(), empty());
+        assertThat(response.getBulkFailures(), hasSize(1));
         assertThat(
-            response.getSearchFailures().stream().map(ScrollableHitSource.SearchFailure::toString).collect(Collectors.toSet()),
+            response.getBulkFailures().stream().map(BulkItemResponse.Failure::getMessage).collect(Collectors.toSet()),
             everyItem(containsString("version conflict"))
         );
 
diff --git a/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkIndexByScrollResponseContentListener.java b/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkIndexByScrollResponseContentListener.java
index 8e5dff170d4..d64bcf8662e 100644
--- a/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkIndexByScrollResponseContentListener.java
+++ b/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkIndexByScrollResponseContentListener.java
@@ -19,11 +19,10 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.index.reindex;
 
-import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkItemResponse.Failure;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.ScrollableHitSource.SearchFailure;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.ScrollableHitSource.SearchFailure;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.BytesRestResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestChannel;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestResponse;
@@ -67,7 +66,7 @@ public class BulkIndexByScrollResponseContentListener extends RestBuilderListene
             }
         }
         for (SearchFailure failure: response.getSearchFailures()) {
-            RestStatus failureStatus = ExceptionsHelper.status(failure.getReason());
+            RestStatus failureStatus = failure.getStatus();
             if (failureStatus.getStatus() > status.getStatus()) {
                 status = failureStatus;
             }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkByScrollResponse.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkByScrollResponse.java
index 53e34251f4a..59ac32c6661 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkByScrollResponse.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkByScrollResponse.java
@@ -241,10 +241,10 @@ public class BulkByScrollResponse extends ActionResponse implements ToXContentFr
            } else if (token == Token.START_OBJECT) {
                switch (name) {
                    case SearchFailure.REASON_FIELD:
-                       bulkExc = ElasticsearchException.fromXContent(parser);
+                       searchExc = ElasticsearchException.fromXContent(parser);
                        break;
                    case Failure.CAUSE_FIELD:
-                       searchExc = ElasticsearchException.fromXContent(parser);
+                       bulkExc = ElasticsearchException.fromXContent(parser);
                        break;
                    default:
                        parser.skipChildren();
@@ -285,7 +285,11 @@ public class BulkByScrollResponse extends ActionResponse implements ToXContentFr
        if (bulkExc != null) {
            return new Failure(index, type, id, bulkExc, RestStatus.fromCode(status));
        } else if (searchExc != null) {
-           return new SearchFailure(searchExc, index, shardId, nodeId);
+           if (status == null) {
+               return new SearchFailure(searchExc, index, shardId, nodeId);
+           } else {
+               return new SearchFailure(searchExc, index, shardId, nodeId, RestStatus.fromCode(status));
+           }
        } else {
            throw new ElasticsearchParseException("failed to parse failures array. At least one of {reason,cause} must be present");
        }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/ScrollableHitSource.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/ScrollableHitSource.java
index 269bed2ddc8..07d22ddb663 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/ScrollableHitSource.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/ScrollableHitSource.java
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@ package org.elasticsearch.index.reindex;
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
+import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BackoffPolicy;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkItemResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.ShardSearchFailure;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
@@ -35,6 +37,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContentObject;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentType;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.seqno.SequenceNumbers;
+import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestStatus;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchHit;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 
@@ -356,6 +359,7 @@ public abstract class ScrollableHitSource {
      */
     public static class SearchFailure implements Writeable, ToXContentObject {
         private final Throwable reason;
+        private final RestStatus status;
         @Nullable
         private final String index;
         @Nullable
@@ -367,12 +371,19 @@ public abstract class ScrollableHitSource {
         public static final String SHARD_FIELD = "shard";
         public static final String NODE_FIELD = "node";
         public static final String REASON_FIELD = "reason";
+        public static final String STATUS_FIELD = BulkItemResponse.Failure.STATUS_FIELD;
 
         public SearchFailure(Throwable reason, @Nullable String index, @Nullable Integer shardId, @Nullable String nodeId) {
+            this(reason, index, shardId, nodeId, ExceptionsHelper.status(reason));
+        }
+
+        public SearchFailure(Throwable reason, @Nullable String index, @Nullable Integer shardId, @Nullable String nodeId,
+                             RestStatus status) {
             this.index = index;
             this.shardId = shardId;
             this.reason = requireNonNull(reason, "reason cannot be null");
             this.nodeId = nodeId;
+            this.status = status;
         }
 
         /**
@@ -390,6 +401,7 @@ public abstract class ScrollableHitSource {
             index = in.readOptionalString();
             shardId = in.readOptionalVInt();
             nodeId = in.readOptionalString();
+            status = ExceptionsHelper.status(reason);
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -408,6 +420,10 @@ public abstract class ScrollableHitSource {
             return shardId;
         }
 
+        public RestStatus getStatus() {
+            return this.status;
+        }
+
         public Throwable getReason() {
             return reason;
         }
@@ -429,6 +445,7 @@ public abstract class ScrollableHitSource {
             if (nodeId != null) {
                 builder.field(NODE_FIELD, nodeId);
             }
+            builder.field(STATUS_FIELD, status.getStatus());
             builder.field(REASON_FIELD);
             {
                 builder.startObject();
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkByScrollResponseTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkByScrollResponseTests.java
index 7822244b9ce..a1301fe03ea 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkByScrollResponseTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/reindex/BulkByScrollResponseTests.java
@@ -20,14 +20,16 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.index.reindex;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
+import org.elasticsearch.ResourceNotFoundException;
 import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkItemResponse.Failure;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.transport.NoNodeAvailableException;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.BytesStreamOutput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
-import org.elasticsearch.test.AbstractXContentTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.reindex.BulkByScrollTask.Status;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.AbstractXContentTestCase;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@ public class BulkByScrollResponseTests extends AbstractXContentTestCase<BulkBySc
 
     private boolean includeUpdated;
     private boolean includeCreated;
+    private boolean testExceptions = randomBoolean();
 
     public void testRountTrip() throws IOException {
         BulkByScrollResponse response = new BulkByScrollResponse(timeValueMillis(randomNonNegativeLong()),
@@ -76,7 +79,9 @@ public class BulkByScrollResponseTests extends AbstractXContentTestCase<BulkBySc
             shardId = randomInt();
             nodeId = usually() ? randomAlphaOfLength(5) : null;
         }
-        return singletonList(new ScrollableHitSource.SearchFailure(new ElasticsearchException("foo"), index, shardId, nodeId));
+        ElasticsearchException exception = randomFrom(new ResourceNotFoundException("bar"), new ElasticsearchException("foo"),
+            new NoNodeAvailableException("baz"));
+        return singletonList(new ScrollableHitSource.SearchFailure(exception, index, shardId, nodeId));
     }
 
     private void assertResponseEquals(BulkByScrollResponse expected, BulkByScrollResponse actual) {
@@ -101,14 +106,14 @@ public class BulkByScrollResponseTests extends AbstractXContentTestCase<BulkBySc
             assertEquals(expectedFailure.getNodeId(), actualFailure.getNodeId());
             assertEquals(expectedFailure.getReason().getClass(), actualFailure.getReason().getClass());
             assertEquals(expectedFailure.getReason().getMessage(), actualFailure.getReason().getMessage());
+            assertEquals(expectedFailure.getStatus(), actualFailure.getStatus());
         }
     }
 
-    public static void assertEqualBulkResponse(BulkByScrollResponse expected, BulkByScrollResponse actual,
-                                        boolean includeUpdated, boolean includeCreated) {
+    public static void assertEqualBulkResponse(BulkByScrollResponse expected, BulkByScrollResponse actual, boolean includeUpdated,
+                                               boolean includeCreated) {
         assertEquals(expected.getTook(), actual.getTook());
-        BulkByScrollTaskStatusTests
-            .assertEqualStatus(expected.getStatus(), actual.getStatus(), includeUpdated, includeCreated);
+        BulkByScrollTaskStatusTests.assertEqualStatus(expected.getStatus(), actual.getStatus(), includeUpdated, includeCreated);
         assertEquals(expected.getBulkFailures().size(), actual.getBulkFailures().size());
         for (int i = 0; i < expected.getBulkFailures().size(); i++) {
             Failure expectedFailure = expected.getBulkFailures().get(i);
@@ -126,7 +131,8 @@ public class BulkByScrollResponseTests extends AbstractXContentTestCase<BulkBySc
             assertEquals(expectedFailure.getIndex(), actualFailure.getIndex());
             assertEquals(expectedFailure.getShardId(), actualFailure.getShardId());
             assertEquals(expectedFailure.getNodeId(), actualFailure.getNodeId());
-            assertThat(expectedFailure.getReason().getMessage(), containsString(actualFailure.getReason().getMessage()));
+            assertEquals(expectedFailure.getStatus(), actualFailure.getStatus());
+            assertThat(actualFailure.getReason().getMessage(), containsString(expectedFailure.getReason().getMessage()));
         }
     }
 
@@ -137,12 +143,13 @@ public class BulkByScrollResponseTests extends AbstractXContentTestCase<BulkBySc
 
     @Override
     protected BulkByScrollResponse createTestInstance() {
-        // failures are tested separately, so we can test XContent equivalence at least when we have no failures
-        return
-            new BulkByScrollResponse(
-                timeValueMillis(randomNonNegativeLong()), BulkByScrollTaskStatusTests.randomStatusWithoutException(),
-                emptyList(), emptyList(), randomBoolean()
-            );
+        if (testExceptions) {
+            return new BulkByScrollResponse(timeValueMillis(randomNonNegativeLong()), BulkByScrollTaskStatusTests.randomStatus(),
+                randomIndexingFailures(), randomSearchFailures(), randomBoolean());
+        } else {
+            return new BulkByScrollResponse(timeValueMillis(randomNonNegativeLong()),
+                BulkByScrollTaskStatusTests.randomStatusWithoutException(), emptyList(), emptyList(), randomBoolean());
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -150,6 +157,12 @@ public class BulkByScrollResponseTests extends AbstractXContentTestCase<BulkBySc
         return BulkByScrollResponse.fromXContent(parser);
     }
 
+    @Override
+    protected boolean assertToXContentEquivalence() {
+        // XContentEquivalence fails in the exception case, due to how exceptions are serialized.
+        return testExceptions == false;
+    }
+
     @Override
     protected boolean supportsUnknownFields() {
         return true;