diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilder.java
index 4b2c0945e3f..c786593caf1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilder.java
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ import java.util.List;
 
 /**
  * A Query that matches documents matching boolean combinations of other queries.
- *
- *
  */
 public class BoolQueryBuilder extends BaseQueryBuilder implements BoostableQueryBuilder<BoolQueryBuilder> {
 
@@ -42,7 +40,7 @@ public class BoolQueryBuilder extends BaseQueryBuilder implements BoostableQuery
 
     private Boolean disableCoord;
 
-    private int minimumNumberShouldMatch = -1;
+    private String minimumShouldMatch;
 
     /**
      * Adds a query that <b>must</b> appear in the matching documents.
@@ -103,7 +101,15 @@ public class BoolQueryBuilder extends BaseQueryBuilder implements BoostableQuery
      * @param minimumNumberShouldMatch the number of optional clauses that must match
      */
     public BoolQueryBuilder minimumNumberShouldMatch(int minimumNumberShouldMatch) {
-        this.minimumNumberShouldMatch = minimumNumberShouldMatch;
+        this.minimumShouldMatch = Integer.toString(minimumNumberShouldMatch);
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the minimum should match using the special syntax (for example, supporting percentage).
+     */
+    public BoolQueryBuilder minimumShouldMatch(String minimumShouldMatch) {
+        this.minimumShouldMatch = minimumShouldMatch;
         return this;
     }
 
@@ -126,8 +132,8 @@ public class BoolQueryBuilder extends BaseQueryBuilder implements BoostableQuery
         if (disableCoord != null) {
             builder.field("disable_coord", disableCoord);
         }
-        if (minimumNumberShouldMatch != -1) {
-            builder.field("minimum_number_should_match", minimumNumberShouldMatch);
+        if (minimumShouldMatch != null) {
+            builder.field("minimum_should_match", minimumShouldMatch);
         }
         builder.endObject();
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryParser.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryParser.java
index da69ec8d1da..e35468819e9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryParser.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanClause;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Inject;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.Queries;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
 
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ public class BoolQueryParser implements QueryParser {
 
         boolean disableCoord = false;
         float boost = 1.0f;
-        int minimumNumberShouldMatch = -1;
+        String minimumShouldMatch = null;
 
         List<BooleanClause> clauses = newArrayList();
 
@@ -112,12 +113,12 @@ public class BoolQueryParser implements QueryParser {
             } else if (token.isValue()) {
                 if ("disable_coord".equals(currentFieldName) || "disableCoord".equals(currentFieldName)) {
                     disableCoord = parser.booleanValue();
-                } else if ("minimum_number_should_match".equals(currentFieldName) || "minimumNumberShouldMatch".equals(currentFieldName)) {
-                    minimumNumberShouldMatch = parser.intValue();
                 } else if ("minimum_should_match".equals(currentFieldName) || "minimumShouldMatch".equals(currentFieldName)) {
-                    minimumNumberShouldMatch = parser.intValue();
+                    minimumShouldMatch = parser.textOrNull();
                 } else if ("boost".equals(currentFieldName)) {
                     boost = parser.floatValue();
+                } else if ("minimum_number_should_match".equals(currentFieldName) || "minimumNumberShouldMatch".equals(currentFieldName)) {
+                    minimumShouldMatch = parser.textOrNull();
                 } else {
                     throw new QueryParsingException(parseContext.index(), "[bool] query does not support [" + currentFieldName + "]");
                 }
@@ -133,9 +134,7 @@ public class BoolQueryParser implements QueryParser {
             query.add(clause);
         }
         query.setBoost(boost);
-        if (minimumNumberShouldMatch != -1) {
-            query.setMinimumNumberShouldMatch(minimumNumberShouldMatch);
-        }
+        Queries.applyMinimumShouldMatch(query, minimumShouldMatch);
         return optimizeQuery(fixNegativeQueryIfNeeded(query));
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/TermsQueryBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/TermsQueryBuilder.java
index 55ab4b49b5c..6cac39aee8a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/TermsQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/TermsQueryBuilder.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public class TermsQueryBuilder extends BaseQueryBuilder implements BoostableQuer
 
     private final Object[] values;
 
-    private int minimumMatch = -1;
+    private String minimumShouldMatch;
 
     private Boolean disableCoord;
 
@@ -119,7 +119,12 @@ public class TermsQueryBuilder extends BaseQueryBuilder implements BoostableQuer
      * Sets the minimum number of matches across the provided terms. Defaults to <tt>1</tt>.
      */
     public TermsQueryBuilder minimumMatch(int minimumMatch) {
-        this.minimumMatch = minimumMatch;
+        this.minimumShouldMatch = Integer.toString(minimumMatch);
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public TermsQueryBuilder minimumShouldMatch(String minimumShouldMatch) {
+        this.minimumShouldMatch = minimumShouldMatch;
         return this;
     }
 
@@ -149,8 +154,8 @@ public class TermsQueryBuilder extends BaseQueryBuilder implements BoostableQuer
         }
         builder.endArray();
 
-        if (minimumMatch != -1) {
-            builder.field("minimum_match", minimumMatch);
+        if (minimumShouldMatch != null) {
+            builder.field("minimum_should_match", minimumShouldMatch);
         }
         if (disableCoord != null) {
             builder.field("disable_coord", disableCoord);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/TermsQueryParser.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/TermsQueryParser.java
index 2dd885593ae..ceb7fd995e9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/TermsQueryParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/TermsQueryParser.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.TermQuery;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Inject;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.Queries;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.FieldMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.MapperService;
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ public class TermsQueryParser implements QueryParser {
         String fieldName = null;
         boolean disableCoord = false;
         float boost = 1.0f;
-        int minimumNumberShouldMatch = 1;
+        String minimumShouldMatch = null;
         List<String> values = newArrayList();
 
         String currentFieldName = null;
@@ -86,7 +87,9 @@ public class TermsQueryParser implements QueryParser {
                 if ("disable_coord".equals(currentFieldName) || "disableCoord".equals(currentFieldName)) {
                     disableCoord = parser.booleanValue();
                 } else if ("minimum_match".equals(currentFieldName) || "minimumMatch".equals(currentFieldName)) {
-                    minimumNumberShouldMatch = parser.intValue();
+                    minimumShouldMatch = parser.textOrNull();
+                } else if ("minimum_should_match".equals(currentFieldName) || "minimumShouldMatch".equals(currentFieldName)) {
+                    minimumShouldMatch = parser.textOrNull();
                 } else if ("boost".equals(currentFieldName)) {
                     boost = parser.floatValue();
                 }
@@ -115,9 +118,7 @@ public class TermsQueryParser implements QueryParser {
                 }
             }
             query.setBoost(boost);
-            if (minimumNumberShouldMatch != -1) {
-                query.setMinimumNumberShouldMatch(minimumNumberShouldMatch);
-            }
+            Queries.applyMinimumShouldMatch(query, minimumShouldMatch);
             return wrapSmartNameQuery(optimizeQuery(fixNegativeQueryIfNeeded(query)), smartNameFieldMappers, parseContext);
         } finally {
             if (smartNameFieldMappers != null && smartNameFieldMappers.explicitTypeInNameWithDocMapper()) {