diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkAction.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkAction.java
index 1347aba6a79..b4a803e281a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkAction.java
@@ -144,16 +144,16 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
 
         BulkItemResponse[] responses = new BulkItemResponse[request.items().length];
         long[] preVersions = new long[request.items().length];
-        for (int i = 0; i < request.items().length; i++) {
-            BulkItemRequest item = request.items()[i];
+        for (int requestIndex = 0; requestIndex < request.items().length; requestIndex++) {
+            BulkItemRequest item = request.items()[requestIndex];
             if (item.request() instanceof IndexRequest) {
                 IndexRequest indexRequest = (IndexRequest) item.request();
                 try {
                     WriteResult result = shardIndexOperation(request, indexRequest, clusterState, indexShard, true);
                     // add the response
                     IndexResponse indexResponse = result.response();
-                    responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), indexRequest.opType().lowercase(), indexResponse);
-                    preVersions[i] = result.preVersion;
+                    responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), indexRequest.opType().lowercase(), indexResponse);
+                    preVersions[requestIndex] = result.preVersion;
                     if (result.mappingToUpdate != null) {
                         if (mappingsToUpdate == null) {
                             mappingsToUpdate = Sets.newHashSet();
@@ -164,13 +164,13 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
                         if (ops == null) {
                             ops = new Engine.IndexingOperation[request.items().length];
                         }
-                        ops[i] = result.op;
+                        ops[requestIndex] = result.op;
                     }
                 } catch (Exception e) {
                     // rethrow the failure if we are going to retry on primary and let parent failure to handle it
                     if (retryPrimaryException(e)) {
                         // restore updated versions...
-                        for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) {
+                        for (int j = 0; j < requestIndex; j++) {
                             applyVersion(request.items()[j], preVersions[j]);
                         }
                         throw (ElasticSearchException) e;
@@ -180,22 +180,22 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
                     } else {
                         logger.debug("[{}][{}] failed to execute bulk item (index) {}", e, shardRequest.request.index(), shardRequest.shardId, indexRequest);
                     }
-                    responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), indexRequest.opType().lowercase(),
+                    responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), indexRequest.opType().lowercase(),
                             new BulkItemResponse.Failure(indexRequest.index(), indexRequest.type(), indexRequest.id(), ExceptionsHelper.detailedMessage(e)));
                     // nullify the request so it won't execute on the replicas
-                    request.items()[i] = null;
+                    request.items()[requestIndex] = null;
                 }
             } else if (item.request() instanceof DeleteRequest) {
                 DeleteRequest deleteRequest = (DeleteRequest) item.request();
                 try {
                     // add the response
                     DeleteResponse deleteResponse = shardDeleteOperation(deleteRequest, indexShard).response();
-                    responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "delete", deleteResponse);
+                    responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "delete", deleteResponse);
                 } catch (Exception e) {
                     // rethrow the failure if we are going to retry on primary and let parent failure to handle it
                     if (retryPrimaryException(e)) {
                         // restore updated versions...
-                        for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) {
+                        for (int j = 0; j < requestIndex; j++) {
                             applyVersion(request.items()[j], preVersions[j]);
                         }
                         throw (ElasticSearchException) e;
@@ -205,15 +205,15 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
                     } else {
                         logger.debug("[{}][{}] failed to execute bulk item (delete) {}", e, shardRequest.request.index(), shardRequest.shardId, deleteRequest);
                     }
-                    responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "delete",
+                    responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "delete",
                             new BulkItemResponse.Failure(deleteRequest.index(), deleteRequest.type(), deleteRequest.id(), ExceptionsHelper.detailedMessage(e)));
                     // nullify the request so it won't execute on the replicas
-                    request.items()[i] = null;
+                    request.items()[requestIndex] = null;
                 }
             } else if (item.request() instanceof UpdateRequest) {
                 UpdateRequest updateRequest = (UpdateRequest) item.request();
-                int retryCount = 0;
-                do {
+                //  We need to do the requested retries plus the initial attempt. We don't do < 1+retry_on_conflict because retry_on_conflict may be Integer.MAX_VALUE
+                for (int updateAttemptsCount = 0; updateAttemptsCount <= updateRequest.retryOnConflict(); updateAttemptsCount++) {
                     UpdateResult updateResult;
                     try {
                         updateResult = shardUpdateOperation(clusterState, request, updateRequest, indexShard);
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
                         updateResult = new UpdateResult(null, null, false, t, null);
                     }
                     if (updateResult.success()) {
+
                         switch (updateResult.result.operation()) {
                             case UPSERT:
                             case INDEX:
@@ -234,8 +235,8 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
                                     Tuple<XContentType, Map<String, Object>> sourceAndContent = XContentHelper.convertToMap(indexSourceAsBytes, true);
                                     updateResponse.setGetResult(updateHelper.extractGetResult(updateRequest, indexResponse.getVersion(), sourceAndContent.v2(), sourceAndContent.v1(), indexSourceAsBytes));
                                 }
-                                responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update", updateResponse);
-                                preVersions[i] = result.preVersion;
+                                responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update", updateResponse);
+                                preVersions[requestIndex] = result.preVersion;
                                 if (result.mappingToUpdate != null) {
                                     if (mappingsToUpdate == null) {
                                         mappingsToUpdate = Sets.newHashSet();
@@ -246,40 +247,50 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
                                     if (ops == null) {
                                         ops = new Engine.IndexingOperation[request.items().length];
                                     }
-                                    ops[i] = result.op;
+                                    ops[requestIndex] = result.op;
                                 }
                                 // Replace the update request to the translated index request to execute on the replica.
-                                request.items()[i] = new BulkItemRequest(request.items()[i].id(), indexRequest);
+                                request.items()[requestIndex] = new BulkItemRequest(request.items()[requestIndex].id(), indexRequest);
                                 break;
                             case DELETE:
                                 DeleteResponse response = updateResult.writeResult.response();
                                 DeleteRequest deleteRequest = updateResult.request();
                                 updateResponse = new UpdateResponse(response.getIndex(), response.getType(), response.getId(), response.getVersion(), false);
                                 updateResponse.setGetResult(updateHelper.extractGetResult(updateRequest, response.getVersion(), updateResult.result.updatedSourceAsMap(), updateResult.result.updateSourceContentType(), null));
-                                responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update", updateResponse);
+                                responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update", updateResponse);
                                 // Replace the update request to the translated delete request to execute on the replica.
-                                request.items()[i] = new BulkItemRequest(request.items()[i].id(), deleteRequest);
+                                request.items()[requestIndex] = new BulkItemRequest(request.items()[requestIndex].id(), deleteRequest);
                                 break;
                             case NONE:
-                                responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update", updateResult.noopResult);
-                                request.items()[i] = null; // No need to go to the replica
+                                responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update", updateResult.noopResult);
+                                request.items()[requestIndex] = null; // No need to go to the replica
                                 break;
                         }
                         // NOTE: Breaking out of the retry_on_conflict loop!
                         break;
                     } else if (updateResult.failure()) {
                         Throwable t = updateResult.error;
-                        if (!updateResult.retry) {
+                        if (updateResult.retry) {
+                            // updateAttemptCount is 0 based and marks current attempt, if it's equal to retryOnConflict we are going out of the iteration
+                            if (updateAttemptsCount >= updateRequest.retryOnConflict()) {
+                                // we can't try any more
+                                responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update",
+                                        new BulkItemResponse.Failure(updateRequest.index(), updateRequest.type(), updateRequest.id(), ExceptionsHelper.detailedMessage(t)));;
+
+                                request.items()[requestIndex] = null; // do not send to replicas
+                          }
+                        }
+                        else {
                             // rethrow the failure if we are going to retry on primary and let parent failure to handle it
                             if (retryPrimaryException(t)) {
                                 // restore updated versions...
-                                for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) {
+                                for (int j = 0; j < requestIndex; j++) {
                                     applyVersion(request.items()[j], preVersions[j]);
                                 }
                                 throw (ElasticSearchException) t;
                             }
                             if (updateResult.result == null) {
-                                responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update", new BulkItemResponse.Failure(updateRequest.index(), updateRequest.type(), updateRequest.id(), ExceptionsHelper.detailedMessage(t)));
+                                responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "update", new BulkItemResponse.Failure(updateRequest.index(), updateRequest.type(), updateRequest.id(), ExceptionsHelper.detailedMessage(t)));
                             } else {
                                 switch (updateResult.result.operation()) {
                                     case UPSERT:
@@ -290,7 +301,7 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
                                         } else {
                                             logger.debug("[{}][{}] failed to execute bulk item (index) {}", t, shardRequest.request.index(), shardRequest.shardId, indexRequest);
                                         }
-                                        responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), indexRequest.opType().lowercase(),
+                                        responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), indexRequest.opType().lowercase(),
                                                 new BulkItemResponse.Failure(indexRequest.index(), indexRequest.type(), indexRequest.id(), ExceptionsHelper.detailedMessage(t)));
                                         break;
                                     case DELETE:
@@ -300,19 +311,23 @@ public class TransportShardBulkAction extends TransportShardReplicationOperation
                                         } else {
                                             logger.debug("[{}][{}] failed to execute bulk item (delete) {}", t, shardRequest.request.index(), shardRequest.shardId, deleteRequest);
                                         }
-                                        responses[i] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "delete",
+                                        responses[requestIndex] = new BulkItemResponse(item.id(), "delete",
                                                 new BulkItemResponse.Failure(deleteRequest.index(), deleteRequest.type(), deleteRequest.id(), ExceptionsHelper.detailedMessage(t)));
                                         break;
                                 }
                             }
                             // nullify the request so it won't execute on the replicas
-                            request.items()[i] = null;
+                            request.items()[requestIndex] = null;
                             // NOTE: Breaking out of the retry_on_conflict loop!
                             break;
                         }
+
                     }
-                } while (++retryCount < updateRequest.retryOnConflict());
+                }
             }
+
+            assert responses[requestIndex] != null; // we must have set a response somewhere.
+
         }
 
         if (mappingsToUpdate != null) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/replication/TransportShardReplicationOperationAction.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/replication/TransportShardReplicationOperationAction.java
index 82168f71a11..22d87fff249 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/replication/TransportShardReplicationOperationAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/replication/TransportShardReplicationOperationAction.java
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ public abstract class TransportShardReplicationOperationAction<Request extends S
                 public void onFailure(Throwable e) {
                     try {
                         channel.sendResponse(e);
-                    } catch (Exception e1) {
+                    } catch (Throwable e1) {
                         logger.warn("Failed to send response for " + transportAction, e1);
                     }
                 }
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ public abstract class TransportShardReplicationOperationAction<Request extends S
             try {
                 PrimaryResponse<Response, ReplicaRequest> response = shardOperationOnPrimary(clusterState, new PrimaryOperationRequest(primaryShardId, request));
                 performReplicas(response);
-            } catch (Exception e) {
+            } catch (Throwable e) {
                 // shard has not been allocated yet, retry it here
                 if (retryPrimaryException(e)) {
                     primaryOperationStarted.set(false);
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ public abstract class TransportShardReplicationOperationAction<Request extends S
                         public void run() {
                             try {
                                 shardOperationOnReplica(shardRequest);
-                            } catch (Exception e) {
+                            } catch (Throwable e) {
                                 if (!ignoreReplicaException(e)) {
                                     logger.warn("Failed to perform " + transportAction + " on replica " + shardIt.shardId(), e);
                                     shardStateAction.shardFailed(shard, "Failed to perform [" + transportAction + "] on replica, message [" + detailedMessage(e) + "]");
@@ -705,7 +705,7 @@ public abstract class TransportShardReplicationOperationAction<Request extends S
                 } else {
                     try {
                         shardOperationOnReplica(shardRequest);
-                    } catch (Exception e) {
+                    } catch (Throwable e) {
                         if (!ignoreReplicaException(e)) {
                             logger.warn("Failed to perform " + transportAction + " on replica" + shardIt.shardId(), e);
                             shardStateAction.shardFailed(shard, "Failed to perform [" + transportAction + "] on replica, message [" + detailedMessage(e) + "]");
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java
index a94d4f3c105..ad405891ae2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ public class UpdateRequest extends InstanceShardOperationRequest<UpdateRequest>
 
     /**
      * Sets the number of retries of a version conflict occurs because the document was updated between
-     * getting it and updating it. Defaults to 1.
+     * getting it and updating it. Defaults to 0.
      */
     public UpdateRequest retryOnConflict(int retryOnConflict) {
         this.retryOnConflict = retryOnConflict;
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequestBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequestBuilder.java
index aab5f6f18b0..b14abaf5f11 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequestBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequestBuilder.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public class UpdateRequestBuilder extends InstanceShardOperationRequestBuilder<U
 
     /**
      * Sets the number of retries of a version conflict occurs because the document was updated between
-     * getting it and updating it. Defaults to 1.
+     * getting it and updating it. Defaults to 0.
      */
     public UpdateRequestBuilder setRetryOnConflict(int retryOnConflict) {
         request.retryOnConflict(retryOnConflict);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/document/BulkTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/document/BulkTests.java
index e6795e86ab3..f105e852315 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/document/BulkTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/document/BulkTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.test.integration.document;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkItemResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkRequestBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.get.GetResponse;
@@ -15,6 +16,9 @@ import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchHit;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.integration.AbstractSharedClusterTest;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import java.util.concurrent.BrokenBarrierException;
+import java.util.concurrent.CyclicBarrier;
+
 import static org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory.jsonBuilder;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.*;
 
@@ -417,4 +421,46 @@ public class BulkTests extends AbstractSharedClusterTest {
         assertThat(hits[0].getId(), equalTo("child1"));
 
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testFailingVersionedUpdatedOnBulk() throws Exception {
+        createIndex("test");
+        index("test","type","1","field","1");
+        final BulkResponse[] responses = new BulkResponse[30];
+        final CyclicBarrier cyclicBarrier = new CyclicBarrier(responses.length);
+        Thread[] threads = new Thread[responses.length];
+
+
+        for (int i=0;i<responses.length;i++) {
+            final int threadID = i;
+            threads[threadID] = new Thread(new Runnable() {
+                @Override
+                public void run() {
+                    try {
+                        cyclicBarrier.await();
+                    } catch (Exception e) {
+                        return;
+                    }
+                    BulkRequestBuilder requestBuilder = client().prepareBulk();
+                    requestBuilder.add(client().prepareUpdate("test", "type", "1").setVersion(1).setDoc("field", threadID));
+                    responses[threadID]=requestBuilder.get();
+
+                }
+            });
+            threads[threadID].start();
+
+        }
+
+        for (int i=0;i < threads.length; i++) {
+            threads[i].join();
+        }
+
+        int successes = 0;
+        for (BulkResponse response : responses) {
+            if (!response.hasFailures()) successes ++;
+        }
+
+        assertThat(successes, equalTo(1));
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/update/UpdateTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/update/UpdateTests.java
index ab180ffd04c..c0228bc4a7c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/update/UpdateTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/update/UpdateTests.java
@@ -496,6 +496,7 @@ public class UpdateTests extends AbstractSharedClusterTest {
         for (int i = 0; i < numberOfUpdatesPerThread; i++) {
             GetResponse response = client().prepareGet("test", "type1", Integer.toString(i)).execute().actionGet();
             assertThat(response.getId(), equalTo(Integer.toString(i)));
+            assertThat(response.isExists(), equalTo(true));
             assertThat(response.getVersion(), equalTo((long) numberOfThreads));
             assertThat((Integer) response.getSource().get("field"), equalTo(numberOfThreads));
         }