diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ml/inference/results/FeatureImportance.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ml/inference/results/FeatureImportance.java
index d6d0bd4b04f..c83b90fcc15 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ml/inference/results/FeatureImportance.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ml/inference/results/FeatureImportance.java
@@ -27,8 +27,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ConstructingObjectParser.constructorArg;
@@ -38,36 +37,37 @@ public class FeatureImportance implements ToXContentObject {
 
     public static final String IMPORTANCE = "importance";
     public static final String FEATURE_NAME = "feature_name";
-    public static final String CLASS_IMPORTANCE = "class_importance";
+    public static final String CLASSES = "classes";
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     private static final ConstructingObjectParser<FeatureImportance, Void> PARSER =
         new ConstructingObjectParser<>("feature_importance", true,
-            a -> new FeatureImportance((String) a[0], (Double) a[1], (Map<String, Double>) a[2])
+            a -> new FeatureImportance((String) a[0], (Double) a[1], (List<ClassImportance>) a[2])
         );
 
     static {
         PARSER.declareString(constructorArg(), new ParseField(FeatureImportance.FEATURE_NAME));
         PARSER.declareDouble(constructorArg(), new ParseField(FeatureImportance.IMPORTANCE));
-        PARSER.declareObject(optionalConstructorArg(), (p, c) -> p.map(HashMap::new, XContentParser::doubleValue),
-            new ParseField(FeatureImportance.CLASS_IMPORTANCE));
+        PARSER.declareObjectArray(optionalConstructorArg(),
+            (p, c) -> ClassImportance.fromXContent(p),
+            new ParseField(FeatureImportance.CLASSES));
     }
 
     public static FeatureImportance fromXContent(XContentParser parser) {
         return PARSER.apply(parser, null);
     }
 
-    private final Map<String, Double> classImportance;
+    private final List<ClassImportance> classImportance;
     private final double importance;
     private final String featureName;
 
-    public FeatureImportance(String featureName, double importance, Map<String, Double> classImportance) {
+    public FeatureImportance(String featureName, double importance, List<ClassImportance> classImportance) {
         this.featureName = Objects.requireNonNull(featureName);
         this.importance = importance;
-        this.classImportance = classImportance == null ? null : Collections.unmodifiableMap(classImportance);
+        this.classImportance = classImportance == null ? null : Collections.unmodifiableList(classImportance);
     }
 
-    public Map<String, Double> getClassImportance() {
+    public List<ClassImportance> getClassImportance() {
         return classImportance;
     }
 
@@ -85,11 +85,7 @@ public class FeatureImportance implements ToXContentObject {
         builder.field(FEATURE_NAME, featureName);
         builder.field(IMPORTANCE, importance);
         if (classImportance != null && classImportance.isEmpty() == false) {
-            builder.startObject(CLASS_IMPORTANCE);
-            for (Map.Entry<String, Double> entry : classImportance.entrySet()) {
-                builder.field(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
-            }
-            builder.endObject();
+            builder.field(CLASSES, classImportance);
         }
         builder.endObject();
         return builder;
@@ -109,4 +105,63 @@ public class FeatureImportance implements ToXContentObject {
     public int hashCode() {
         return Objects.hash(featureName, importance, classImportance);
     }
+
+    public static class ClassImportance implements ToXContentObject {
+
+        static final String CLASS_NAME = "class_name";
+
+        private static final ConstructingObjectParser<ClassImportance, Void> PARSER =
+            new ConstructingObjectParser<>("feature_importance_class_importance",
+                true,
+                a -> new ClassImportance((String) a[0], (Double) a[1])
+            );
+
+        static {
+            PARSER.declareString(constructorArg(), new ParseField(CLASS_NAME));
+            PARSER.declareDouble(constructorArg(), new ParseField(FeatureImportance.IMPORTANCE));
+        }
+
+        public static ClassImportance fromXContent(XContentParser parser) {
+            return PARSER.apply(parser, null);
+        }
+
+        private final String className;
+        private final double importance;
+
+        public ClassImportance(String className, double importance) {
+            this.className = className;
+            this.importance = importance;
+        }
+
+        public String getClassName() {
+            return className;
+        }
+
+        public double getImportance() {
+            return importance;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public XContentBuilder toXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
+            builder.startObject();
+            builder.field(CLASS_NAME, className);
+            builder.field(IMPORTANCE, importance);
+            builder.endObject();
+            return builder;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean equals(Object o) {
+            if (this == o) return true;
+            if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) return false;
+            ClassImportance that = (ClassImportance) o;
+            return Double.compare(that.importance, importance) == 0 &&
+                Objects.equals(className, that.className);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int hashCode() {
+            return Objects.hash(className, importance);
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ml/inference/results/FeatureImportanceTests.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ml/inference/results/FeatureImportanceTests.java
index 9e6c8492e74..0da86667e1d 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ml/inference/results/FeatureImportanceTests.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ml/inference/results/FeatureImportanceTests.java
@@ -23,8 +23,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.AbstractXContentTestCase;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.function.Function;
-import java.util.function.Predicate;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
@@ -38,7 +36,8 @@ public class FeatureImportanceTests extends AbstractXContentTestCase<FeatureImpo
             randomBoolean() ? null :
                 Stream.generate(() -> randomAlphaOfLength(10))
                     .limit(randomLongBetween(2, 10))
-                    .collect(Collectors.toMap(Function.identity(), (k) -> randomDoubleBetween(-10, 10, false))));
+                    .map(name -> new FeatureImportance.ClassImportance(name, randomDoubleBetween(-10, 10, false)))
+                    .collect(Collectors.toList()));
 
     }
 
@@ -52,8 +51,4 @@ public class FeatureImportanceTests extends AbstractXContentTestCase<FeatureImpo
         return true;
     }
 
-    @Override
-    protected Predicate<String> getRandomFieldsExcludeFilter() {
-        return field -> field.equals(FeatureImportance.CLASS_IMPORTANCE);
-    }
 }