diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoPolygonQueryBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoPolygonQueryBuilder.java
index d415c87b5ab..35ab98e25de 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoPolygonQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoPolygonQueryBuilder.java
@@ -54,8 +54,10 @@ public class GeoPolygonQueryBuilder extends AbstractQueryBuilder<GeoPolygonQuery
      */
     public static final boolean DEFAULT_IGNORE_UNMAPPED = false;
 
-    private static final ParseField COERCE_FIELD = new ParseField("coerce", "normalize");
-    private static final ParseField IGNORE_MALFORMED_FIELD = new ParseField("ignore_malformed");
+    private static final ParseField COERCE_FIELD = new ParseField("coerce", "normalize")
+            .withAllDeprecated("use validation_method instead");
+    private static final ParseField IGNORE_MALFORMED_FIELD = new ParseField("ignore_malformed")
+            .withAllDeprecated("use validation_method instead");
     private static final ParseField VALIDATION_METHOD = new ParseField("validation_method");
     private static final ParseField POINTS_FIELD = new ParseField("points");
     private static final ParseField IGNORE_UNMAPPED_FIELD = new ParseField("ignore_unmapped");
@@ -232,9 +234,7 @@ public class GeoPolygonQueryBuilder extends AbstractQueryBuilder<GeoPolygonQuery
         builder.endArray();
         builder.endObject();
 
-        builder.field(COERCE_FIELD.getPreferredName(), GeoValidationMethod.isCoerce(validationMethod));
-        builder.field(IGNORE_MALFORMED_FIELD.getPreferredName(),
-                GeoValidationMethod.isIgnoreMalformed(validationMethod));
+        builder.field(VALIDATION_METHOD.getPreferredName(), validationMethod);
         builder.field(IGNORE_UNMAPPED_FIELD.getPreferredName(), ignoreUnmapped);
 
         printBoostAndQueryName(builder);
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoPolygonQueryBuilderTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoPolygonQueryBuilderTests.java
index 55b7f24770c..9313b4278b0 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoPolygonQueryBuilderTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoPolygonQueryBuilderTests.java
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ public class GeoPolygonQueryBuilderTests extends AbstractQueryTestCase<GeoPolygo
             parseQuery(builder.string());
             fail("normalize is deprecated");
         } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
-            assertEquals("Deprecated field [normalize] used, expected [coerce] instead", ex.getMessage());
+            assertEquals("Deprecated field [normalize] used, replaced by [use validation_method instead]", ex.getMessage());
         }
     }
 
@@ -342,8 +342,7 @@ public class GeoPolygonQueryBuilderTests extends AbstractQueryTestCase<GeoPolygo
                 "    \"person.location\" : {\n" +
                 "      \"points\" : [ [ -70.0, 40.0 ], [ -80.0, 30.0 ], [ -90.0, 20.0 ], [ -70.0, 40.0 ] ]\n" +
                 "    },\n" +
-                "    \"coerce\" : false,\n" +
-                "    \"ignore_malformed\" : false,\n" +
+                "    \"validation_method\" : \"STRICT\",\n" +
                 "    \"ignore_unmapped\" : false,\n" +
                 "    \"boost\" : 1.0\n" +
                 "  }\n" +
@@ -353,6 +352,38 @@ public class GeoPolygonQueryBuilderTests extends AbstractQueryTestCase<GeoPolygo
         assertEquals(json, 4, parsed.points().size());
     }
 
+    public void testFromJsonIgnoreMalformedDeprecated() throws IOException {
+        String json =
+                "{\n" +
+                "  \"geo_polygon\" : {\n" +
+                "    \"person.location\" : {\n" +
+                "      \"points\" : [ [ -70.0, 40.0 ], [ -80.0, 30.0 ], [ -90.0, 20.0 ], [ -70.0, 40.0 ] ]\n" +
+                "    },\n" +
+                "    \"ignore_malformed\" : false,\n" +
+                "    \"boost\" : 1.0\n" +
+                "  }\n" +
+                "}";
+        IllegalArgumentException e = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> parseQuery(json));
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage().startsWith("Deprecated field "));
+
+    }
+
+    public void testFromJsonCoerceDeprecated() throws IOException {
+        String json =
+                "{\n" +
+                "  \"geo_polygon\" : {\n" +
+                "    \"person.location\" : {\n" +
+                "      \"points\" : [ [ -70.0, 40.0 ], [ -80.0, 30.0 ], [ -90.0, 20.0 ], [ -70.0, 40.0 ] ]\n" +
+                "    },\n" +
+                "    \"coerce\" : false,\n" +
+                "    \"ignore_unmapped\" : false,\n" +
+                "    \"boost\" : 1.0\n" +
+                "  }\n" +
+                "}";
+        IllegalArgumentException e = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> parseQuery(json));
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage().startsWith("Deprecated field "));
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void testMustRewrite() throws IOException {
         assumeTrue("test runs only when at least a type is registered", getCurrentTypes().length > 0);
diff --git a/docs/reference/migration/migrate_5_0/search.asciidoc b/docs/reference/migration/migrate_5_0/search.asciidoc
index 2d22ee1c1c3..a2c56996c2b 100644
--- a/docs/reference/migration/migrate_5_0/search.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/migration/migrate_5_0/search.asciidoc
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ in favour of `query` and `no_match_query`.
 
 * The `exists` query will now fail if the `_field_names` field is disabled.
 
+* Deprecated support for the coerce, normalize, ignore_malformed parameters in GeoPolygonQuery. Use parameter validation_method instead.
 
 ==== Top level `filter` parameter
 
diff --git a/docs/reference/query-dsl/geo-polygon-query.asciidoc b/docs/reference/query-dsl/geo-polygon-query.asciidoc
index 938a0b3dc87..ef80de82079 100644
--- a/docs/reference/query-dsl/geo-polygon-query.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/query-dsl/geo-polygon-query.asciidoc
@@ -34,8 +34,9 @@ points. Here is an example:
 |Option |Description
 |`_name` |Optional name field to identify the filter
 
-|`ignore_malformed` |Set to `true` to accept geo points with invalid latitude or
-longitude (default is `false`).
+|`validation_method` |Set to `IGNORE_MALFORMED` to accept geo points with
+invalid latitude or longitude, `COERCE` to try and infer correct latitude
+or longitude, or `STRICT` (default is `STRICT`).
 |=======================================================================
 
 [float]