diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/suggest/phrase/PhraseSuggestParser.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/suggest/phrase/PhraseSuggestParser.java
index 10373bed595..8be4326bbbc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/suggest/phrase/PhraseSuggestParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/suggest/phrase/PhraseSuggestParser.java
@@ -89,8 +89,9 @@ public final class PhraseSuggestParser implements SuggestContextParser {
                         gramSizeSet = true;
                     } else if ("force_unigrams".equals(fieldName)) {
                         suggestion.setRequireUnigram(parser.booleanValue());
+                    } else {
+                        throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("suggester[phrase] doesn't support field [" + fieldName + "]");
                     }
-                    
                 }
             } else if (token == Token.START_ARRAY) {
                 if ("direct_generator".equals(fieldName)) {
@@ -111,97 +112,8 @@ public final class PhraseSuggestParser implements SuggestContextParser {
                 } else {
                     throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("suggester[phrase]  doesn't support array field [" + fieldName + "]");
                 }
-            } else if (token == Token.START_OBJECT) {
-                if ("linear".equals(fieldName)) {
-                    ensureNoSmoothing(suggestion);
-                    final double[] lambdas = new double[3];
-                    while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != Token.END_OBJECT) {
-                        if (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
-                            fieldName = parser.currentName();
-                        }
-                        if (token.isValue()) {
-                            if ("trigram_lambda".equals(fieldName)) {
-                                lambdas[0] = parser.doubleValue();
-                                if (lambdas[0] < 0) {
-                                    throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("trigram_lambda must be positive");
-                                }
-                            }
-                            if ("bigram_lambda".equals(fieldName)) {
-                                lambdas[1] = parser.doubleValue();
-                                if (lambdas[1] < 0) {
-                                    throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("bigram_lambda must be positive");
-                                }
-                            }
-                            if ("unigram_lambda".equals(fieldName)) {
-                                lambdas[2] = parser.doubleValue();
-                                if (lambdas[2] < 0) {
-                                    throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("unigram_lambda must be positive");
-                                }
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                    double sum = 0.0d;
-                    for (int i = 0; i < lambdas.length; i++) {
-                        sum += lambdas[i];
-                    }
-                    if (Math.abs(sum - 1.0) > 0.001) {
-                        throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("linear smoothing lambdas must sum to 1");
-                    }
-                    suggestion.setModel(new WordScorer.WordScorerFactory() {
-                        @Override
-                        public WordScorer newScorer(IndexReader reader, String field, double realWordLikelyhood, BytesRef separator)
-                                throws IOException {
-                            return new LinearInterpoatingScorer(reader, field, realWordLikelyhood, separator, lambdas[0], lambdas[1],
-                                    lambdas[2]);
-                        }
-                    });
-                } else if ("laplace".equals(fieldName)) {
-                    ensureNoSmoothing(suggestion);
-                    double theAlpha = 0.5;
-
-                    while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != Token.END_OBJECT) {
-                        if (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
-                            fieldName = parser.currentName();
-                        }
-                        if (token.isValue()) {
-                            if ("alpha".equals(fieldName)) {
-                                theAlpha = parser.doubleValue();
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                    final double alpha = theAlpha;
-                    suggestion.setModel( new WordScorer.WordScorerFactory() {
-                        @Override
-                        public WordScorer newScorer(IndexReader reader, String field, double realWordLikelyhood, BytesRef separator) throws IOException {
-                            return new LaplaceScorer(reader, field, realWordLikelyhood, separator, alpha);
-                        }
-                    });
-
-                } else if ("stupid_backoff".equals(fieldName)) {
-                    ensureNoSmoothing(suggestion);
-                    double theDiscount = 0.4;
-                    while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != Token.END_OBJECT) {
-                        if (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
-                            fieldName = parser.currentName();
-                        }
-                        if (token.isValue()) {
-                            if ("discount".equals(fieldName)) {
-                                theDiscount = parser.doubleValue();
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                    final double discount = theDiscount; 
-                    suggestion.setModel( new WordScorer.WordScorerFactory() {
-                        @Override
-                        public WordScorer newScorer(IndexReader reader, String field, double realWordLikelyhood, BytesRef separator) throws IOException {
-                            return new StupidBackoffScorer(reader, field, realWordLikelyhood, separator, discount);
-                        }
-                    });
-                   
-                } else {
-                    throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("suggester[phrase] doesn't support object field [" + fieldName + "]");
-                }
-                
+            } else if (token == Token.START_OBJECT && "smoothing".equals(fieldName)) {
+                parseSmoothingModel(parser, suggestion, fieldName);
             } else {
                 throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("suggester[phrase] doesn't support field [" + fieldName + "]");
             }
@@ -242,6 +154,101 @@ public final class PhraseSuggestParser implements SuggestContextParser {
         return suggestion;
     }
 
+    public void parseSmoothingModel(XContentParser parser, PhraseSuggestionContext suggestion, String fieldName) throws IOException {
+        XContentParser.Token token;
+        while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != XContentParser.Token.END_OBJECT) {
+            if (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
+                fieldName = parser.currentName();
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        if ("linear".equals(fieldName)) {
+            ensureNoSmoothing(suggestion);
+            final double[] lambdas = new double[3];
+            while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != Token.END_OBJECT) {
+                if (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
+                    fieldName = parser.currentName();
+                }
+                if (token.isValue()) {
+                    if ("trigram_lambda".equals(fieldName)) {
+                        lambdas[0] = parser.doubleValue();
+                        if (lambdas[0] < 0) {
+                            throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("trigram_lambda must be positive");
+                        }
+                    } else if ("bigram_lambda".equals(fieldName)) {
+                        lambdas[1] = parser.doubleValue();
+                        if (lambdas[1] < 0) {
+                            throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("bigram_lambda must be positive");
+                        }
+                    } else if ("unigram_lambda".equals(fieldName)) {
+                        lambdas[2] = parser.doubleValue();
+                        if (lambdas[2] < 0) {
+                            throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("unigram_lambda must be positive");
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("suggester[phrase][smoothing][linear] doesn't support field [" + fieldName + "]");
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            double sum = 0.0d;
+            for (int i = 0; i < lambdas.length; i++) {
+                sum += lambdas[i];
+            }
+            if (Math.abs(sum - 1.0) > 0.001) {
+                throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("linear smoothing lambdas must sum to 1");
+            }
+            suggestion.setModel(new WordScorer.WordScorerFactory() {
+                @Override
+                public WordScorer newScorer(IndexReader reader, String field, double realWordLikelyhood, BytesRef separator)
+                        throws IOException {
+                    return new LinearInterpoatingScorer(reader, field, realWordLikelyhood, separator, lambdas[0], lambdas[1],
+                            lambdas[2]);
+                }
+            });
+        } else if ("laplace".equals(fieldName)) {
+            ensureNoSmoothing(suggestion);
+            double theAlpha = 0.5;
+
+            while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != Token.END_OBJECT) {
+                if (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
+                    fieldName = parser.currentName();
+                }
+                if (token.isValue() && "alpha".equals(fieldName)) {
+                        theAlpha = parser.doubleValue();
+                }
+            }
+            final double alpha = theAlpha;
+            suggestion.setModel( new WordScorer.WordScorerFactory() {
+                @Override
+                public WordScorer newScorer(IndexReader reader, String field, double realWordLikelyhood, BytesRef separator) throws IOException {
+                    return new LaplaceScorer(reader, field, realWordLikelyhood, separator, alpha);
+                }
+            });
+
+        } else if ("stupid_backoff".equals(fieldName)) {
+            ensureNoSmoothing(suggestion);
+            double theDiscount = 0.4;
+            while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != Token.END_OBJECT) {
+                if (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
+                    fieldName = parser.currentName();
+                }
+                if (token.isValue() && "discount".equals(fieldName)) {
+                    theDiscount = parser.doubleValue();
+                }
+            }
+            final double discount = theDiscount; 
+            suggestion.setModel( new WordScorer.WordScorerFactory() {
+                @Override
+                public WordScorer newScorer(IndexReader reader, String field, double realWordLikelyhood, BytesRef separator) throws IOException {
+                    return new StupidBackoffScorer(reader, field, realWordLikelyhood, separator, discount);
+                }
+            });
+           
+        } else {
+            throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("suggester[phrase] doesn't support object field [" + fieldName + "]");
+        }
+    }
+
     private void ensureNoSmoothing(PhraseSuggestionContext suggestion) {
         if (suggestion.model() != null) {
             throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("only one smoothing model supported");
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/suggest/phrase/PhraseSuggestionBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/suggest/phrase/PhraseSuggestionBuilder.java
index 50445995b58..e3497f090b5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/suggest/phrase/PhraseSuggestionBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/suggest/phrase/PhraseSuggestionBuilder.java
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ public final class PhraseSuggestionBuilder extends SuggestionBuilder<PhraseSugge
             }
         }
         if (model != null) {
-            builder.startObject(model.type);
+            builder.startObject("smoothing");
             model.toXContent(builder, params);
             builder.endObject();
         }
@@ -214,8 +214,7 @@ public final class PhraseSuggestionBuilder extends SuggestionBuilder<PhraseSugge
         }
 
         @Override
-        public XContentBuilder toXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
-            builder = super.toXContent(builder, params);
+        protected XContentBuilder innerToXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
             builder.field("discount", discount);
             return builder;
         }
@@ -245,15 +244,14 @@ public final class PhraseSuggestionBuilder extends SuggestionBuilder<PhraseSugge
         }
 
         @Override
-        public XContentBuilder toXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
-            builder = super.toXContent(builder, params);
+        protected XContentBuilder innerToXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
             builder.field("alpha", alpha);
             return builder;
         }
     }
     
     
-    public static class SmoothingModel implements ToXContent {
+    public static abstract class SmoothingModel implements ToXContent {
         private final String type;
 
         protected SmoothingModel(String type) {
@@ -262,8 +260,13 @@ public final class PhraseSuggestionBuilder extends SuggestionBuilder<PhraseSugge
 
         @Override
         public XContentBuilder toXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
+            builder.startObject(type);
+            innerToXContent(builder,params);
+            builder.endObject();
             return builder;
         }
+        
+        protected abstract XContentBuilder innerToXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -299,8 +302,7 @@ public final class PhraseSuggestionBuilder extends SuggestionBuilder<PhraseSugge
         }
 
         @Override
-        public XContentBuilder toXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
-            builder = super.toXContent(builder, params);
+        protected XContentBuilder innerToXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
             builder.field("trigram_lambda", trigramLambda);
             builder.field("bigram_lambda", bigramLambda);
             builder.field("unigram_lambda", unigramLambda);