diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/RangeFieldMapper.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/RangeFieldMapper.java
index d3c9afd2f96..f270ae74ca9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/RangeFieldMapper.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/RangeFieldMapper.java
@@ -405,12 +405,14 @@ public class RangeFieldMapper extends FieldMapper {
     protected void doXContentBody(XContentBuilder builder, boolean includeDefaults, Params params) throws IOException {
         super.doXContentBody(builder, includeDefaults, params);
 
-        if (includeDefaults || (fieldType().dateTimeFormatter() != null
-                && fieldType().dateTimeFormatter().format().equals(DateFieldMapper.DEFAULT_DATE_TIME_FORMATTER.format()) == false)) {
+        if (fieldType().rangeType == RangeType.DATE
+                && (includeDefaults || (fieldType().dateTimeFormatter() != null
+                && fieldType().dateTimeFormatter().format().equals(DateFieldMapper.DEFAULT_DATE_TIME_FORMATTER.format()) == false))) {
             builder.field("format", fieldType().dateTimeFormatter().format());
         }
-        if (includeDefaults || (fieldType().dateTimeFormatter() != null
-                && fieldType().dateTimeFormatter().locale() != Locale.ROOT)) {
+        if (fieldType().rangeType == RangeType.DATE
+                && (includeDefaults || (fieldType().dateTimeFormatter() != null
+                && fieldType().dateTimeFormatter().locale() != Locale.ROOT))) {
             builder.field("locale", fieldType().dateTimeFormatter().locale());
         }
         if (includeDefaults || coerce.explicit()) {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/RangeFieldMapperTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/RangeFieldMapperTests.java
index 33dfd900769..c065888f911 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/RangeFieldMapperTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/RangeFieldMapperTests.java
@@ -20,12 +20,14 @@ package org.elasticsearch.index.mapper;
 
 import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexableField;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.compress.CompressedXContent;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Locale;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.index.query.RangeQueryBuilder.GT_FIELD;
 import static org.elasticsearch.index.query.RangeQueryBuilder.GTE_FIELD;
@@ -317,4 +319,23 @@ public class RangeFieldMapperTests extends AbstractNumericFieldMapperTestCase {
         IllegalArgumentException e = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, runnable);
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("should not define a dateTimeFormatter"));
     }
+
+    public void testSerializeDefaults() throws Exception {
+        for (String type : TYPES) {
+            String mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+                .startObject("properties").startObject("field").field("type", type).endObject().endObject()
+                .endObject().endObject().string();
+
+            DocumentMapper docMapper = parser.parse("type", new CompressedXContent(mapping));
+            RangeFieldMapper mapper = (RangeFieldMapper) docMapper.root().getMapper("field");
+            XContentBuilder builder = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject();
+            mapper.doXContentBody(builder, true, ToXContent.EMPTY_PARAMS);
+            String got = builder.endObject().string();
+
+            // if type is date_range we check that the mapper contains the default format and locale
+            // otherwise it should not contain a locale or format
+            assertTrue(got, got.contains("\"format\":\"strict_date_optional_time||epoch_millis\"") == type.equals("date_range"));
+            assertTrue(got, got.contains("\"locale\":" + "\"" + Locale.ROOT + "\"") == type.equals("date_range"));
+        }
+    }
 }