diff --git a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/Data.java b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/Data.java
index c64b8865607..827d17483a3 100644
--- a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/Data.java
+++ b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/Data.java
@@ -21,9 +21,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.ingest;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 
-import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.*;
 
 /**
  * Represents the data and meta data (like id and type) of a single document that is going to be indexed.
@@ -62,16 +60,9 @@ public final class Data {
         String[] pathElements = Strings.splitStringToArray(path, '.');
         assert pathElements.length > 0;
 
-        Map<String, Object> innerMap = document;
-        for (int i = 0; i < pathElements.length - 1; i++) {
-            Object obj = innerMap.get(pathElements[i]);
-            if (obj instanceof Map) {
-                @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-                Map<String, Object> stringObjectMap = (Map<String, Object>) obj;
-                innerMap = stringObjectMap;
-            } else {
-                return null;
-            }
+        Map<String, Object> innerMap = getParent(pathElements);
+        if (innerMap == null) {
+            return null;
         }
 
         String leafKey = pathElements[pathElements.length - 1];
@@ -96,7 +87,29 @@ public final class Data {
         }
         String[] pathElements = Strings.splitStringToArray(path, '.');
         assert pathElements.length > 0;
+        Map<String, Object> innerMap = getParent(pathElements);
+        if (innerMap == null) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        String leafKey = pathElements[pathElements.length - 1];
+        return innerMap.containsKey(leafKey);
+    }
 
+    public void removeProperty(String path) {
+        if (path == null || path.length() == 0) {
+            return;
+        }
+        String[] pathElements = Strings.splitStringToArray(path, '.');
+        assert pathElements.length > 0;
+
+        Map<String, Object> parent = getParent(pathElements);
+        if (parent != null) {
+            String leafKey = pathElements[pathElements.length - 1];
+            parent.remove(leafKey);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private Map<String, Object> getParent(String[] pathElements) {
         Map<String, Object> innerMap = document;
         for (int i = 0; i < pathElements.length - 1; i++) {
             Object obj = innerMap.get(pathElements[i]);
@@ -105,12 +118,10 @@ public final class Data {
                 Map<String, Object> stringObjectMap = (Map<String, Object>) obj;
                 innerMap = stringObjectMap;
             } else {
-                return false;
+                return null;
             }
         }
-
-        String leafKey = pathElements[pathElements.length - 1];
-        return innerMap.containsKey(leafKey);
+        return innerMap;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -136,6 +147,8 @@ public final class Data {
                     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
                     Map<String, Object> stringObjectMap = (Map<String, Object>) object;
                     inner = stringObjectMap;
+                } else if (object == null ) {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("cannot add field to null parent, [" + Map.class.getName() + "] expected instead.");
                 } else {
                     throw new IllegalArgumentException("cannot add field to parent [" + pathElement + "] of type [" + object.getClass().getName() + "], [" + Map.class.getName() + "] expected instead.");
                 }
diff --git a/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/DataTests.java b/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/DataTests.java
index cf230d1c299..5179a468b58 100644
--- a/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/DataTests.java
+++ b/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/DataTests.java
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
     public void setData() {
         Map<String, Object> document = new HashMap<>();
         document.put("foo", "bar");
-        document.put("foo_null", null);
         document.put("int", 123);
         Map<String, Object> innerObject = new HashMap<>();
         innerObject.put("buzz", "hello world");
+        innerObject.put("foo_null", null);
         document.put("fizz", innerObject);
         data = new Data("index", "type", "id", document);
     }
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
     }
 
     public void testGetPropertyValueNullValue() {
-        assertThat(data.getPropertyValue("foo_null", Object.class), nullValue());
+        assertThat(data.getPropertyValue("fizz.foo_null", Object.class), nullValue());
     }
 
     public void testSimpleGetPropertyValueTypeMismatch() {
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
     }
 
     public void testHasPropertyValueNullValue() {
-        assertTrue(data.hasPropertyValue("foo_null"));
+        assertTrue(data.hasPropertyValue("fizz.foo_null"));
     }
 
     public void testHasPropertyValueEmpty() {
@@ -162,6 +162,15 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
         }
     }
 
+    public void testSetPropertyValueOnExistingNullParent() {
+        try {
+            data.setPropertyValue("fizz.foo_null.test", "bar");
+            fail("add field should have failed");
+        } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot add field to null parent, [java.util.Map] expected instead."));
+        }
+    }
+
     public void testSetPropertyValueNullName() {
         try {
             data.setPropertyValue(null, "bar");
@@ -180,6 +189,47 @@ public class DataTests extends ESTestCase {
         }
     }
 
+    public void testRemoveProperty() {
+        data.removeProperty("foo");
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(2));
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().containsKey("foo"), equalTo(false));
+    }
+
+    public void testRemoveInnerProperty() {
+        data.removeProperty("fizz.buzz");
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().get("fizz"), instanceOf(Map.class));
+        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+        Map<String, Object> map = (Map<String, Object>)data.getDocument().get("fizz");
+        assertThat(map.size(), equalTo(1));
+        assertThat(map.containsKey("buzz"), equalTo(false));
+
+        data.removeProperty("fizz.foo_null");
+        assertThat(map.size(), equalTo(0));
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().containsKey("fizz"), equalTo(true));
+    }
+
+    public void testRemoveNonExistingProperty() {
+        data.removeProperty("does_not_exist");
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
+    }
+
+    public void testRemoveExistingParentTypeMismatch() {
+        data.removeProperty("foo.test");
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
+    }
+
+    public void testRemoveNullProperty() {
+        data.removeProperty(null);
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
+    }
+
+    public void testRemoveEmptyProperty() {
+        data.removeProperty("");
+        assertThat(data.getDocument().size(), equalTo(3));
+    }
+
     public void testEqualsAndHashcode() throws Exception {
         String index = randomAsciiOfLengthBetween(1, 10);
         String type = randomAsciiOfLengthBetween(1, 10);