diff --git a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/Data.java b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/Data.java
index cafa8133877..3c3a25f84af 100644
--- a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/Data.java
+++ b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/Data.java
@@ -108,7 +108,10 @@ public final class Data {
         Map<String, Object> parent = getParent(pathElements);
         if (parent != null) {
             String leafKey = pathElements[pathElements.length - 1];
-            parent.remove(leafKey);
+            if (parent.containsKey(leafKey)) {
+                modified = true;
+                parent.remove(leafKey);
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -137,7 +140,6 @@ public final class Data {
         if (path == null || path.length() == 0) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("cannot add null or empty field");
         }
-        modified = true;
         String[] pathElements = Strings.splitStringToArray(path, '.');
         assert pathElements.length > 0;
 
@@ -164,6 +166,7 @@ public final class Data {
 
         String leafKey = pathElements[pathElements.length - 1];
         inner.put(leafKey, value);
+        modified = true;
     }
 
     public String getIndex() {
@@ -178,6 +181,11 @@ public final class Data {
         return id;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the document. Should be used only for reading. Any change made to the returned map will
+     * not be reflected to the modified flag. Modify the document instead using {@link #setPropertyValue(String, Object)}
+     * and {@link #removeProperty(String)}
+     */
     public Map<String, Object> getDocument() {
         return document;
     }
diff --git a/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/DataTests.java b/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/DataTests.java
index 5179a468b58..64cb6489e4f 100644
--- a/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/DataTests.java
+++ b/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/DataTests.java
@@ -116,12 +116,14 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
     public void testSimpleSetPropertyValue() {
         data.setPropertyValue("new_field", "foo");
         assertThat(data.getDocument().get("new_field"), equalTo("foo"));
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     public void testSetPropertyValueNullValue() {
         data.setPropertyValue("new_field", null);
         assertThat(data.getDocument().containsKey("new_field"), equalTo(true));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().get("new_field"), nullValue());
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -136,6 +138,7 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertThat(c.get("d"), instanceOf(String.class));
         String d = (String) c.get("d");
         assertThat(d, equalTo("foo"));
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     public void testSetPropertyValueOnExistingField() {
@@ -151,6 +154,7 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertThat(innerMap.get("new"), instanceOf(String.class));
         String value = (String) innerMap.get("new");
         assertThat(value, equalTo("bar"));
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     public void testSetPropertyValueOnExistingParentTypeMismatch() {
@@ -159,6 +163,7 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("add field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot add field to parent [buzz] of type [java.lang.String], [java.util.Map] expected instead."));
+            assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -168,6 +173,7 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("add field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot add field to null parent, [java.util.Map] expected instead."));
+            assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -177,6 +183,7 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("add field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot add null or empty field"));
+            assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -186,11 +193,13 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("add field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot add null or empty field"));
+            assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
     public void testRemoveProperty() {
         data.removeProperty("foo");
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(true));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(2));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().containsKey("foo"), equalTo(false));
     }
@@ -208,25 +217,30 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertThat(map.size(), equalTo(0));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().containsKey("fizz"), equalTo(true));
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     public void testRemoveNonExistingProperty() {
         data.removeProperty("does_not_exist");
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(false));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
     }
 
     public void testRemoveExistingParentTypeMismatch() {
         data.removeProperty("foo.test");
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(false));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
     }
 
     public void testRemoveNullProperty() {
         data.removeProperty(null);
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(false));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
     }
 
     public void testRemoveEmptyProperty() {
         data.removeProperty("");
+        assertThat(data.isModified(), equalTo(false));
         assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
     }