diff --git a/elasticsearch/x-pack/shield/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/shield/action/user/PutUserRequestBuilder.java b/elasticsearch/x-pack/shield/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/shield/action/user/PutUserRequestBuilder.java
index a9f73bd757d..11f061c2d9b 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/x-pack/shield/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/shield/action/user/PutUserRequestBuilder.java
+++ b/elasticsearch/x-pack/shield/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/shield/action/user/PutUserRequestBuilder.java
@@ -111,14 +111,14 @@ public class PutUserRequestBuilder extends ActionRequestBuilder<PutUserRequest,
                 } else if (ParseFieldMatcher.STRICT.match(currentFieldName, User.Fields.FULL_NAME)) {
                     if (token == XContentParser.Token.VALUE_STRING) {
                         fullName(parser.text());
-                    } else {
+                    } else if (token != XContentParser.Token.VALUE_NULL) {
                         throw new ElasticsearchParseException(
                                 "expected field [{}] to be of type string, but found [{}] instead", currentFieldName, token);
                     }
                 } else if (ParseFieldMatcher.STRICT.match(currentFieldName, User.Fields.EMAIL)) {
                     if (token == XContentParser.Token.VALUE_STRING) {
                         email(parser.text());
-                    } else {
+                    } else if (token != XContentParser.Token.VALUE_NULL) {
                         throw new ElasticsearchParseException(
                                 "expected field [{}] to be of type string, but found [{}] instead", currentFieldName, token);
                     }
diff --git a/elasticsearch/x-pack/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/shield/action/user/PutUserRequestBuilderTests.java b/elasticsearch/x-pack/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/shield/action/user/PutUserRequestBuilderTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2504cd7dea6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elasticsearch/x-pack/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/shield/action/user/PutUserRequestBuilderTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License;
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License.
+ */
+package org.elasticsearch.shield.action.user;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchParseException;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.Client;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesArray;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.arrayContaining;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.nullValue;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+
+public class PutUserRequestBuilderTests extends ESTestCase {
+
+    public void testNullValuesForEmailAndFullName() throws IOException {
+        final String json = "{\n" +
+                "    \"roles\": [\n" +
+                "      \"kibana4\"\n" +
+                "    ],\n" +
+                "    \"full_name\": null,\n" +
+                "    \"email\": null,\n" +
+                "    \"metadata\": {}\n" +
+                "}";
+
+        PutUserRequestBuilder builder = new PutUserRequestBuilder(mock(Client.class));
+        builder.source("kibana4", new BytesArray(json.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
+
+        PutUserRequest request = builder.request();
+        assertThat(request.username(), is("kibana4"));
+        assertThat(request.roles(), arrayContaining("kibana4"));
+        assertThat(request.fullName(), nullValue());
+        assertThat(request.email(), nullValue());
+        assertThat(request.metadata().isEmpty(), is(true));
+    }
+
+    public void testMissingEmailFullName() throws Exception {
+        final String json = "{\n" +
+                "    \"roles\": [\n" +
+                "      \"kibana4\"\n" +
+                "    ],\n" +
+                "    \"metadata\": {}\n" +
+                "}";
+
+        PutUserRequestBuilder builder = new PutUserRequestBuilder(mock(Client.class));
+        builder.source("kibana4", new BytesArray(json.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
+
+        PutUserRequest request = builder.request();
+        assertThat(request.username(), is("kibana4"));
+        assertThat(request.roles(), arrayContaining("kibana4"));
+        assertThat(request.fullName(), nullValue());
+        assertThat(request.email(), nullValue());
+        assertThat(request.metadata().isEmpty(), is(true));
+    }
+
+    public void testWithFullNameAndEmail() throws IOException {
+        final String json = "{\n" +
+                "    \"roles\": [\n" +
+                "      \"kibana4\"\n" +
+                "    ],\n" +
+                "    \"full_name\": \"Kibana User\",\n" +
+                "    \"email\": \"kibana@elastic.co\",\n" +
+                "    \"metadata\": {}\n" +
+                "}";
+
+        PutUserRequestBuilder builder = new PutUserRequestBuilder(mock(Client.class));
+        builder.source("kibana4", new BytesArray(json.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
+
+        PutUserRequest request = builder.request();
+        assertThat(request.username(), is("kibana4"));
+        assertThat(request.roles(), arrayContaining("kibana4"));
+        assertThat(request.fullName(), is("Kibana User"));
+        assertThat(request.email(), is("kibana@elastic.co"));
+        assertThat(request.metadata().isEmpty(), is(true));
+    }
+
+    public void testInvalidFullname() throws IOException {
+        final String json = "{\n" +
+                "    \"roles\": [\n" +
+                "      \"kibana4\"\n" +
+                "    ],\n" +
+                "    \"full_name\": [ \"Kibana User\" ],\n" +
+                "    \"email\": \"kibana@elastic.co\",\n" +
+                "    \"metadata\": {}\n" +
+                "}";
+
+        PutUserRequestBuilder builder = new PutUserRequestBuilder(mock(Client.class));
+        ElasticsearchParseException e = expectThrows(ElasticsearchParseException.class,
+                () -> builder.source("kibana4", new BytesArray(json.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))));
+        assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("expected field [full_name] to be of type string"));
+    }
+
+    public void testInvalidEmail() throws IOException {
+        final String json = "{\n" +
+                "    \"roles\": [\n" +
+                "      \"kibana4\"\n" +
+                "    ],\n" +
+                "    \"full_name\": \"Kibana User\",\n" +
+                "    \"email\": [ \"kibana@elastic.co\" ],\n" +
+                "    \"metadata\": {}\n" +
+                "}";
+
+        PutUserRequestBuilder builder = new PutUserRequestBuilder(mock(Client.class));
+        ElasticsearchParseException e = expectThrows(ElasticsearchParseException.class,
+                () -> builder.source("kibana4", new BytesArray(json.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))));
+        assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("expected field [email] to be of type string"));
+    }
+}