diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/xcontent/RangeFilterParser.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/xcontent/RangeFilterParser.java
index e115928ee35..1757979e063 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/xcontent/RangeFilterParser.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/xcontent/RangeFilterParser.java
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ public class RangeFilterParser extends AbstractIndexComponent implements XConten
             }
         }
 
+        if (fieldName == null) {
+            throw new QueryParsingException(index, "No field specified for range filter");
+        }
+
         Filter filter = null;
         MapperService.SmartNameFieldMappers smartNameFieldMappers = parseContext.smartFieldMappers(fieldName);
         if (smartNameFieldMappers != null) {
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/xcontent/TermFilterParser.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/xcontent/TermFilterParser.java
index 3a225615517..87c2edeba5f 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/xcontent/TermFilterParser.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/xcontent/TermFilterParser.java
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ public class TermFilterParser extends AbstractIndexComponent implements XContent
             }
         }
 
+        if (fieldName == null) {
+            throw new QueryParsingException(index, "No field specified for term filter");
+        }
+
         if (value == null) {
             throw new QueryParsingException(index, "No value specified for term filter");
         }