diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/MultiMatchQueryBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/MultiMatchQueryBuilder.java
index 41b6829994e..1026717adcb 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/MultiMatchQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/MultiMatchQueryBuilder.java
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.Writeable;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.MatchNoDocsQuery;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.regex.Regex;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.Fuzziness;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
@@ -747,13 +746,6 @@ public class MultiMatchQueryBuilder extends AbstractQueryBuilder<MultiMatchQuery
         Map<String, Float> newFieldsBoosts = handleFieldsMatchPattern(context.getMapperService(), fieldsBoosts);
 
         Query query = multiMatchQuery.parse(type, newFieldsBoosts, value, minimumShouldMatch);
-        if (query == null) {
-            if (newFieldsBoosts.isEmpty()) {
-                return new MatchNoDocsQuery("[" + NAME + "] could not resolve any field names");
-            } else {
-                return new MatchNoDocsQuery("[" + NAME + "] parsing resolved to null query");
-            }
-        }
         return query;
     }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/search/MatchQuery.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/search/MatchQuery.java
index 835ec8e143f..b38d2101163 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/search/MatchQuery.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/search/MatchQuery.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.Writeable;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.MatchNoDocsQuery;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.MultiPhrasePrefixQuery;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.Queries;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.Fuzziness;
@@ -354,6 +355,9 @@ public class MatchQuery {
                     if (query instanceof FuzzyQuery) {
                         QueryParsers.setRewriteMethod((FuzzyQuery) query, fuzzyRewriteMethod);
                     }
+                    if (query == null) {
+                        return new MatchNoDocsQuery("could not create fuzzy query for field type " + fieldType.name());
+                    }
                     return query;
                 } catch (RuntimeException e) {
                     if (lenient) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/search/MultiMatchQuery.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/search/MultiMatchQuery.java
index 115938a2c06..ce6b2cec706 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/search/MultiMatchQuery.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/search/MultiMatchQuery.java
@@ -23,14 +23,15 @@ import org.apache.lucene.analysis.Analyzer;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
 import org.apache.lucene.queries.BlendedTermQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanClause;
+import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanClause.Occur;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BoostQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.DisjunctionMaxQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.TermQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.BytesRef;
-import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanClause.Occur;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.collect.Tuple;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.MatchNoDocsQuery;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.Queries;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.MappedFieldType;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.AbstractQueryBuilder;
@@ -72,14 +73,14 @@ public class MultiMatchQuery extends MatchQuery {
     }
 
     public Query parse(MultiMatchQueryBuilder.Type type, Map<String, Float> fieldNames, Object value, String minimumShouldMatch) throws IOException {
+        Query result;
         if (fieldNames.size() == 1) {
             Map.Entry<String, Float> fieldBoost = fieldNames.entrySet().iterator().next();
             Float boostValue = fieldBoost.getValue();
-            return parseAndApply(type.matchQueryType(), fieldBoost.getKey(), value, minimumShouldMatch, boostValue);
-        }
-
-        final float tieBreaker = groupTieBreaker == null ? type.tieBreaker() : groupTieBreaker;
-        switch (type) {
+            result = parseAndApply(type.matchQueryType(), fieldBoost.getKey(), value, minimumShouldMatch, boostValue);
+        } else {
+            final float tieBreaker = groupTieBreaker == null ? type.tieBreaker() : groupTieBreaker;
+            switch (type) {
             case PHRASE:
             case PHRASE_PREFIX:
             case BEST_FIELDS:
@@ -91,9 +92,12 @@ public class MultiMatchQuery extends MatchQuery {
                 break;
             default:
                 throw new IllegalStateException("No such type: " + type);
+            }
+            final List<? extends Query> queries = queryBuilder.buildGroupedQueries(type, fieldNames, value, minimumShouldMatch);
+            result = queryBuilder.combineGrouped(queries);
         }
-        final List<? extends Query> queries = queryBuilder.buildGroupedQueries(type, fieldNames, value, minimumShouldMatch);
-        return queryBuilder.combineGrouped(queries);
+        assert result != null;
+        return result;
     }
 
     private QueryBuilder queryBuilder;
@@ -127,9 +131,9 @@ public class MultiMatchQuery extends MatchQuery {
             return parseAndApply(type, field, value, minimumShouldMatch, boostValue);
         }
 
-        public Query combineGrouped(List<? extends Query> groupQuery) {
+        private Query combineGrouped(List<? extends Query> groupQuery) {
             if (groupQuery == null || groupQuery.isEmpty()) {
-                return null;
+                return  new MatchNoDocsQuery("[multi_match] list of group queries was empty");
             }
             if (groupQuery.size() == 1) {
                 return groupQuery.get(0);