diff --git a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/IngestDocument.java b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/IngestDocument.java
index 1077b16453b..8eed959f1f4 100644
--- a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/IngestDocument.java
+++ b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/IngestDocument.java
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@ public final class IngestDocument {
     private final Map<String, Object> source;
     private final Map<String, String> ingestMetadata;
 
-    private boolean sourceModified = false;
-
     public IngestDocument(String index, String type, String id, String routing, String parent, String timestamp, String ttl, Map<String, Object> source) {
         this.esMetadata = new HashMap<>();
         this.esMetadata.put(MetaData.INDEX.getFieldName(), index);
@@ -190,7 +188,6 @@ public final class IngestDocument {
             Map<String, Object> map = (Map<String, Object>) context;
             if (map.containsKey(leafKey)) {
                 map.remove(leafKey);
-                this.sourceModified = true;
                 return;
             }
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("field [" + leafKey + "] not present as part of path [" + path + "]");
@@ -208,7 +205,6 @@ public final class IngestDocument {
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("[" + index + "] is out of bounds for array with length [" + list.size() + "] as part of path [" + path + "]");
             }
             list.remove(index);
-            this.sourceModified = true;
             return;
         }
 
@@ -292,7 +288,6 @@ public final class IngestDocument {
                 } else {
                     HashMap<Object, Object> newMap = new HashMap<>();
                     map.put(pathElement, newMap);
-                    sourceModified = true;
                     context = newMap;
                 }
             } else if (context instanceof List) {
@@ -327,13 +322,11 @@ public final class IngestDocument {
                         @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
                         List<Object> list = (List<Object>) object;
                         list.add(value);
-                        sourceModified = true;
                         return;
                     }
                 }
             }
             map.put(leafKey, value);
-            sourceModified = true;
         } else if (context instanceof List) {
             @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
             List<Object> list = (List<Object>) context;
@@ -347,7 +340,6 @@ public final class IngestDocument {
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("[" + index + "] is out of bounds for array with length [" + list.size() + "] as part of path [" + path + "]");
             }
             list.set(index, value);
-            this.sourceModified = true;
         } else {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("cannot set [" + leafKey + "] with parent object of type [" + context.getClass().getName() + "] as part of path [" + path + "]");
         }
@@ -386,10 +378,6 @@ public final class IngestDocument {
         return source;
     }
 
-    public boolean isSourceModified() {
-        return sourceModified;
-    }
-
     static Object deepCopy(Object value) {
         if (value instanceof Map) {
             @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
diff --git a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/ingest/PipelineExecutionService.java b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/ingest/PipelineExecutionService.java
index b94dbd391cd..d155ed543c3 100644
--- a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/ingest/PipelineExecutionService.java
+++ b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/ingest/PipelineExecutionService.java
@@ -62,9 +62,7 @@ public class PipelineExecutionService {
             IngestDocument ingestDocument = new IngestDocument(index, type, id, routing, parent, timestamp, ttl, sourceAsMap);
             try {
                 pipeline.execute(ingestDocument);
-                if (ingestDocument.isSourceModified()) {
-                    indexRequest.source(ingestDocument.getSource());
-                }
+                indexRequest.source(ingestDocument.getSource());
                 indexRequest.index(ingestDocument.getEsMetadata(IngestDocument.MetaData.INDEX));
                 indexRequest.type(ingestDocument.getEsMetadata(IngestDocument.MetaData.TYPE));
                 indexRequest.id(ingestDocument.getEsMetadata(IngestDocument.MetaData.ID));
diff --git a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/ingest/transport/simulate/WriteableIngestDocument.java b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/ingest/transport/simulate/WriteableIngestDocument.java
index 4f0b2eeee60..0f66206848d 100644
--- a/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/ingest/transport/simulate/WriteableIngestDocument.java
+++ b/plugins/ingest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugin/ingest/transport/simulate/WriteableIngestDocument.java
@@ -74,7 +74,6 @@ final class WriteableIngestDocument implements Writeable<WriteableIngestDocument
     @Override
     public XContentBuilder toXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
         builder.startObject(Fields.DOCUMENT);
-        builder.field(Fields.MODIFIED, ingestDocument.isSourceModified());
         for (Map.Entry<String, String> esMetadata : ingestDocument.getEsMetadata().entrySet()) {
             builder.field(esMetadata.getKey(), esMetadata.getValue());
         }
@@ -112,7 +111,6 @@ final class WriteableIngestDocument implements Writeable<WriteableIngestDocument
 
     static final class Fields {
         static final XContentBuilderString DOCUMENT = new XContentBuilderString("doc");
-        static final XContentBuilderString MODIFIED = new XContentBuilderString("modified");
         static final XContentBuilderString SOURCE = new XContentBuilderString("_source");
         static final XContentBuilderString INGEST = new XContentBuilderString("_ingest");
     }
diff --git a/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/IngestDocumentTests.java b/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/IngestDocumentTests.java
index 1cb6843bc41..1a95722a319 100644
--- a/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/IngestDocumentTests.java
+++ b/plugins/ingest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/IngestDocumentTests.java
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
         list.add(null);
         document.put("list", list);
         ingestDocument = new IngestDocument("index", "type", "id", null, null, null, null, document);
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
     }
 
     public void testSimpleGetFieldValue() {
@@ -205,14 +204,12 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
     public void testSimpleSetFieldValue() {
         ingestDocument.setFieldValue("new_field", "foo");
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().get("new_field"), equalTo("foo"));
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     public void testSetFieldValueNullValue() {
         ingestDocument.setFieldValue("new_field", null);
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().containsKey("new_field"), equalTo(true));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().get("new_field"), nullValue());
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -227,7 +224,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertThat(c.get("d"), instanceOf(String.class));
         String d = (String) c.get("d");
         assertThat(d, equalTo("foo"));
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     public void testSetFieldValueOnExistingField() {
@@ -243,7 +239,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertThat(innerMap.get("new"), instanceOf(String.class));
         String value = (String) innerMap.get("new");
         assertThat(value, equalTo("bar"));
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     public void testSetFieldValueOnExistingParentTypeMismatch() {
@@ -252,7 +247,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("add field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot set [new] with parent object of type [java.lang.String] as part of path [fizz.buzz.new]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -262,7 +256,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("add field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot set [test] with null parent as part of path [fizz.foo_null.test]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -272,13 +265,11 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("add field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("path cannot be null nor empty"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
     public void testListSetFieldValueNoIndexProvided() {
         ingestDocument.setFieldValue("list", "value");
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
         Object object = ingestDocument.getSource().get("list");
         assertThat(object, instanceOf(String.class));
         assertThat(object, equalTo("value"));
@@ -286,7 +277,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     public void testListAppendFieldValue() {
         ingestDocument.appendFieldValue("list", "new_value");
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
         Object object = ingestDocument.getSource().get("list");
         assertThat(object, instanceOf(List.class));
         @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -299,7 +289,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     public void testListSetFieldValueIndexProvided() {
         ingestDocument.setFieldValue("list.1", "value");
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
         Object object = ingestDocument.getSource().get("list");
         assertThat(object, instanceOf(List.class));
         @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -311,7 +300,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     public void testSetFieldValueListAsPartOfPath() {
         ingestDocument.setFieldValue("list.0.field", "new_value");
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
         Object object = ingestDocument.getSource().get("list");
         assertThat(object, instanceOf(List.class));
         @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -326,14 +314,12 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             ingestDocument.setFieldValue("list.test", "value");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("[test] is not an integer, cannot be used as an index as part of path [list.test]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
 
         try {
             ingestDocument.setFieldValue("list.test.field", "new_value");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("[test] is not an integer, cannot be used as an index as part of path [list.test.field]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -342,14 +328,12 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             ingestDocument.setFieldValue("list.10", "value");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("[10] is out of bounds for array with length [2] as part of path [list.10]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
 
         try {
             ingestDocument.setFieldValue("list.10.field", "value");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("[10] is out of bounds for array with length [2] as part of path [list.10.field]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -359,13 +343,11 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("add field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("path cannot be null nor empty"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
     public void testRemoveField() {
         ingestDocument.removeField("foo");
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().size(), equalTo(3));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().containsKey("foo"), equalTo(false));
     }
@@ -383,13 +365,11 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertThat(map.size(), equalTo(1));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().size(), equalTo(4));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().containsKey("fizz"), equalTo(true));
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
 
         ingestDocument.removeField("fizz.1");
         assertThat(map.size(), equalTo(0));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().size(), equalTo(4));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().containsKey("fizz"), equalTo(true));
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
     }
 
     public void testRemoveNonExistingField() {
@@ -398,7 +378,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("remove field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("field [does_not_exist] not present as part of path [does_not_exist]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -408,13 +387,11 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("remove field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot resolve [foo] from object of type [java.lang.String] as part of path [foo.foo.bar]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
     public void testListRemoveField() {
         ingestDocument.removeField("list.0.field");
-        assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(true));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().size(), equalTo(4));
         assertThat(ingestDocument.getSource().containsKey("list"), equalTo(true));
         Object object = ingestDocument.getSource().get("list");
@@ -438,7 +415,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("get field value should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot remove [not_there] from null as part of path [fizz.foo_null.not_there]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -447,7 +423,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             ingestDocument.removeField("fizz.1.bar");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("cannot remove [bar] from object of type [java.lang.String] as part of path [fizz.1.bar]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -456,7 +431,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             ingestDocument.removeField("list.test");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("[test] is not an integer, cannot be used as an index as part of path [list.test]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -465,7 +439,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             ingestDocument.removeField("list.10");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("[10] is out of bounds for array with length [2] as part of path [list.10]"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -475,7 +448,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("remove field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("path cannot be null nor empty"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }
 
@@ -485,7 +457,6 @@ public class IngestDocumentTests extends ESTestCase {
             fail("remove field should have failed");
         } catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("path cannot be null nor empty"));
-            assertThat(ingestDocument.isSourceModified(), equalTo(false));
         }
     }