diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClient.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClient.java
index 0e749f7b310..ea9ae07d57d 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClient.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClient.java
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.client;
 
-import org.elasticsearch.client.http.Header;
-import org.elasticsearch.client.http.HttpEntity;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchStatusException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
@@ -43,6 +41,9 @@ import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchScrollRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.update.UpdateRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.update.UpdateResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.http.Header;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.http.HttpEntity;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.CheckedConsumer;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.CheckedFunction;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.ParseField;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ContextParser;
@@ -138,6 +139,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.search.suggest.completion.CompletionSuggestion;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.suggest.phrase.PhraseSuggestion;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.suggest.term.TermSuggestion;
 
+import java.io.Closeable;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -157,33 +159,63 @@ import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toList;
 
 /**
  * High level REST client that wraps an instance of the low level {@link RestClient} and allows to build requests and read responses.
- * The provided {@link RestClient} is externally built and closed.
- * Can be sub-classed to expose additional client methods that make use of endpoints added to Elasticsearch through plugins, or to
- * add support for custom response sections, again added to Elasticsearch through plugins.
+ * The {@link RestClient} instance is internally built based on the provided {@link RestClientBuilder} and it gets closed automatically
+ * when closing the {@link RestHighLevelClient} instance that wraps it.
+ * In case an already existing instance of a low-level REST client needs to be provided, this class can be subclassed and the
+ * {@link #RestHighLevelClient(RestClient, CheckedConsumer, List)}  constructor can be used.
+ * This class can also be sub-classed to expose additional client methods that make use of endpoints added to Elasticsearch through
+ * plugins, or to add support for custom response sections, again added to Elasticsearch through plugins.
  */
-public class RestHighLevelClient {
+public class RestHighLevelClient implements Closeable {
 
     private final RestClient client;
     private final NamedXContentRegistry registry;
+    private final CheckedConsumer<RestClient, IOException> doClose;
 
     /**
-     * Creates a {@link RestHighLevelClient} given the low level {@link RestClient} that it should use to perform requests.
+     * Creates a {@link RestHighLevelClient} given the low level {@link RestClientBuilder} that allows to build the
+     * {@link RestClient} to be used to perform requests.
      */
-    public RestHighLevelClient(RestClient restClient) {
-        this(restClient, Collections.emptyList());
+    public RestHighLevelClient(RestClientBuilder restClientBuilder) {
+        this(restClientBuilder, Collections.emptyList());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a {@link RestHighLevelClient} given the low level {@link RestClientBuilder} that allows to build the
+     * {@link RestClient} to be used to perform requests and parsers for custom response sections added to Elasticsearch through plugins.
+     */
+    protected RestHighLevelClient(RestClientBuilder restClientBuilder, List<NamedXContentRegistry.Entry> namedXContentEntries) {
+        this(restClientBuilder.build(), RestClient::close, namedXContentEntries);
     }
 
     /**
      * Creates a {@link RestHighLevelClient} given the low level {@link RestClient} that it should use to perform requests and
      * a list of entries that allow to parse custom response sections added to Elasticsearch through plugins.
+     * This constructor can be called by subclasses in case an externally created low-level REST client needs to be provided.
+     * The consumer argument allows to control what needs to be done when the {@link #close()} method is called.
+     * Also subclasses can provide parsers for custom response sections added to Elasticsearch through plugins.
      */
-    protected RestHighLevelClient(RestClient restClient, List<NamedXContentRegistry.Entry> namedXContentEntries) {
-        this.client = Objects.requireNonNull(restClient);
+    protected RestHighLevelClient(RestClient restClient, CheckedConsumer<RestClient, IOException> doClose,
+                                  List<NamedXContentRegistry.Entry> namedXContentEntries) {
+        this.client = Objects.requireNonNull(restClient, "restClient must not be null");
+        this.doClose = Objects.requireNonNull(doClose, "doClose consumer must not be null");
         this.registry = new NamedXContentRegistry(
                 Stream.of(getDefaultNamedXContents().stream(), getProvidedNamedXContents().stream(), namedXContentEntries.stream())
                     .flatMap(Function.identity()).collect(toList()));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the low-level client that the current high-level client instance is using to perform requests
+     */
+    public RestClient getLowLevelClient() {
+        return client;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final void close() throws IOException {
+        doClose.accept(client);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Executes a bulk request using the Bulk API
      *
diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/CustomRestHighLevelClientTests.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/CustomRestHighLevelClientTests.java
index 191b9e561f0..df39a098e5f 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/CustomRestHighLevelClientTests.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/CustomRestHighLevelClientTests.java
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.client;
 
+import org.apache.lucene.util.BytesRef;
+import org.elasticsearch.Build;
+import org.elasticsearch.Version;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.main.MainRequest;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.main.MainResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.Header;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.HttpEntity;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.HttpHost;
@@ -32,12 +38,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.client.http.message.BasicHeader;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.message.BasicHttpResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.message.BasicRequestLine;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.message.BasicStatusLine;
-import org.apache.lucene.util.BytesRef;
-import org.elasticsearch.Build;
-import org.elasticsearch.Version;
-import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
-import org.elasticsearch.action.main.MainRequest;
-import org.elasticsearch.action.main.MainResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterName;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.SuppressForbidden;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentHelper;
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ import org.junit.Before;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
+import java.util.Collections;
 
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyMap;
 import static java.util.Collections.emptySet;
@@ -151,7 +152,7 @@ public class CustomRestHighLevelClientTests extends ESTestCase {
     static class CustomRestClient extends RestHighLevelClient {
 
         private CustomRestClient(RestClient restClient) {
-            super(restClient);
+            super(restClient, RestClient::close, Collections.emptyList());
         }
 
         MainResponse custom(MainRequest mainRequest, Header... headers) throws IOException {
diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase.java
index c6413a3e00f..630eba1bffc 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase.java
@@ -19,14 +19,15 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.client;
 
-import org.elasticsearch.client.http.Header;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.PlainActionFuture;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.http.Header;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.ESRestTestCase;
 import org.junit.AfterClass;
 import org.junit.Before;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Collections;
 
 public abstract class ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase extends ESRestTestCase {
 
@@ -36,12 +37,13 @@ public abstract class ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase extends ESRestTestCase {
     public void initHighLevelClient() throws IOException {
         super.initClient();
         if (restHighLevelClient == null) {
-            restHighLevelClient = new RestHighLevelClient(client());
+            restHighLevelClient = new HighLevelClient(client());
         }
     }
 
     @AfterClass
-    public static void cleanupClient() {
+    public static void cleanupClient() throws IOException {
+        restHighLevelClient.close();
         restHighLevelClient = null;
     }
 
@@ -72,4 +74,10 @@ public abstract class ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase extends ESRestTestCase {
     protected interface AsyncMethod<Request, Response> {
         void execute(Request request, ActionListener<Response> listener, Header... headers);
     }
+
+    private static class HighLevelClient extends RestHighLevelClient {
+        private HighLevelClient(RestClient restClient) {
+            super(restClient, (client) -> {}, Collections.emptyList());
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClientExtTests.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClientExtTests.java
index aea3653c0ff..25f51ab3b6b 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClientExtTests.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClientExtTests.java
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ public class RestHighLevelClientExtTests extends ESTestCase {
     private static class RestHighLevelClientExt extends RestHighLevelClient {
 
         private RestHighLevelClientExt(RestClient restClient) {
-            super(restClient, getNamedXContentsExt());
+            super(restClient, RestClient::close, getNamedXContentsExt());
         }
 
         private static List<NamedXContentRegistry.Entry> getNamedXContentsExt() {
diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClientTests.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClientTests.java
index aa914e0ccc1..2227082b765 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClientTests.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestHighLevelClientTests.java
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ import static org.mockito.Matchers.eq;
 import static org.mockito.Matchers.isNotNull;
 import static org.mockito.Matchers.isNull;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
@@ -105,7 +106,16 @@ public class RestHighLevelClientTests extends ESTestCase {
     @Before
     public void initClient() {
         restClient = mock(RestClient.class);
-        restHighLevelClient = new RestHighLevelClient(restClient);
+        restHighLevelClient = new RestHighLevelClient(restClient, RestClient::close, Collections.emptyList());
+    }
+
+    public void testCloseIsIdempotent() throws IOException {
+        restHighLevelClient.close();
+        verify(restClient, times(1)).close();
+        restHighLevelClient.close();
+        verify(restClient, times(2)).close();
+        restHighLevelClient.close();
+        verify(restClient, times(3)).close();
     }
 
     public void testPingSuccessful() throws IOException {
diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/documentation/MainDocumentationIT.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/documentation/MainDocumentationIT.java
index 877ae910e83..01f80f98f18 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/documentation/MainDocumentationIT.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/documentation/MainDocumentationIT.java
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ import org.elasticsearch.Build;
 import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.main.MainResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.RestClient;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.http.HttpHost;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterName;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -65,4 +67,17 @@ public class MainDocumentationIT extends ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase {
             assertNotNull(build);
         }
     }
+
+    public void testInitializationFromClientBuilder() throws IOException {
+        //tag::rest-high-level-client-init
+        RestHighLevelClient client = new RestHighLevelClient(
+                RestClient.builder(
+                        new HttpHost("localhost", 9200, "http"),
+                        new HttpHost("localhost", 9201, "http")));
+        //end::rest-high-level-client-init
+
+        //tag::rest-high-level-client-close
+        client.close();
+        //end::rest-high-level-client-close
+    }
 }
diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/documentation/MigrationDocumentationIT.java b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/documentation/MigrationDocumentationIT.java
index d0f191c4ca3..5ec630e4e56 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/documentation/MigrationDocumentationIT.java
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/documentation/MigrationDocumentationIT.java
@@ -23,11 +23,9 @@ import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.delete.DeleteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.delete.DeleteResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequest;
-import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequestBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Response;
-import org.elasticsearch.client.RestClient;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.HttpEntity;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.HttpStatus;
@@ -67,7 +65,7 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF
 public class MigrationDocumentationIT extends ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase {
 
     public void testCreateIndex() throws IOException {
-        RestClient restClient = client();
+        RestHighLevelClient client = highLevelClient();
         {
             //tag::migration-create-inded
             Settings indexSettings = Settings.builder() // <1>
@@ -93,7 +91,7 @@ public class MigrationDocumentationIT extends ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase {
 
             HttpEntity entity = new NStringEntity(payload, ContentType.APPLICATION_JSON); // <5>
 
-            Response response = restClient.performRequest("PUT", "my-index", emptyMap(), entity); // <6>
+            Response response = client.getLowLevelClient().performRequest("PUT", "my-index", emptyMap(), entity); // <6>
             if (response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode() != HttpStatus.SC_OK) {
                 // <7>
             }
@@ -103,10 +101,10 @@ public class MigrationDocumentationIT extends ESRestHighLevelClientTestCase {
     }
 
     public void testClusterHealth() throws IOException {
-        RestClient restClient = client();
+        RestHighLevelClient client = highLevelClient();
         {
             //tag::migration-cluster-health
-            Response response = restClient.performRequest("GET", "/_cluster/health"); // <1>
+            Response response = client.getLowLevelClient().performRequest("GET", "/_cluster/health"); // <1>
 
             ClusterHealthStatus healthStatus;
             try (InputStream is = response.getEntity().getContent()) { // <2>
diff --git a/client/rest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClient.java b/client/rest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClient.java
index f8e815fa878..42268804006 100644
--- a/client/rest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClient.java
+++ b/client/rest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClient.java
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ public class RestClient implements Closeable {
 
     /**
      * Returns a new {@link RestClientBuilder} to help with {@link RestClient} creation.
+     * Creates a new builder instance and sets the hosts that the client will send requests to.
      */
     public static RestClientBuilder builder(HttpHost... hosts) {
         return new RestClientBuilder(hosts);
@@ -706,8 +707,8 @@ public class RestClient implements Closeable {
      * safe, volatile way.
      */
     private static class HostTuple<T> {
-        public final T hosts;
-        public final AuthCache authCache;
+        final T hosts;
+        final AuthCache authCache;
 
         HostTuple(final T hosts, final AuthCache authCache) {
             this.hosts = hosts;
diff --git a/client/rest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClientTests.java b/client/rest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClientTests.java
index 35a0959814b..f35a024987a 100644
--- a/client/rest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClientTests.java
+++ b/client/rest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClientTests.java
@@ -23,19 +23,34 @@ import org.elasticsearch.client.http.Header;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.HttpHost;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.http.impl.nio.client.CloseableHttpAsyncClient;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.Collections;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 
 public class RestClientTests extends RestClientTestCase {
 
+    public void testCloseIsIdempotent() throws IOException {
+        HttpHost[] hosts = new HttpHost[]{new HttpHost("localhost", 9200)};
+        CloseableHttpAsyncClient closeableHttpAsyncClient = mock(CloseableHttpAsyncClient.class);
+        RestClient restClient =  new RestClient(closeableHttpAsyncClient, 1_000, new Header[0], hosts, null, null);
+        restClient.close();
+        verify(closeableHttpAsyncClient, times(1)).close();
+        restClient.close();
+        verify(closeableHttpAsyncClient, times(2)).close();
+        restClient.close();
+        verify(closeableHttpAsyncClient, times(3)).close();
+    }
+
     public void testPerformAsyncWithUnsupportedMethod() throws Exception {
         RestClient.SyncResponseListener listener = new RestClient.SyncResponseListener(10000);
         try (RestClient restClient = createRestClient()) {
-            restClient.performRequestAsync("unsupported", randomAsciiOfLength(5), listener);
+            restClient.performRequestAsync("unsupported", randomAsciiLettersOfLength(5), listener);
             listener.get();
 
             fail("should have failed because of unsupported method");
@@ -47,7 +62,7 @@ public class RestClientTests extends RestClientTestCase {
     public void testPerformAsyncWithNullParams() throws Exception {
         RestClient.SyncResponseListener listener = new RestClient.SyncResponseListener(10000);
         try (RestClient restClient = createRestClient()) {
-            restClient.performRequestAsync(randomAsciiOfLength(5), randomAsciiOfLength(5), null, listener);
+            restClient.performRequestAsync(randomAsciiLettersOfLength(5), randomAsciiLettersOfLength(5), null, listener);
             listener.get();
 
             fail("should have failed because of null parameters");
@@ -59,7 +74,7 @@ public class RestClientTests extends RestClientTestCase {
     public void testPerformAsyncWithNullHeaders() throws Exception {
         RestClient.SyncResponseListener listener = new RestClient.SyncResponseListener(10000);
         try (RestClient restClient = createRestClient()) {
-            restClient.performRequestAsync("GET", randomAsciiOfLength(5), listener, (Header) null);
+            restClient.performRequestAsync("GET", randomAsciiLettersOfLength(5), listener, (Header) null);
             listener.get();
 
             fail("should have failed because of null headers");
diff --git a/docs/java-rest/high-level/migration.asciidoc b/docs/java-rest/high-level/migration.asciidoc
index 20b6472a32e..5006607c47a 100644
--- a/docs/java-rest/high-level/migration.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/java-rest/high-level/migration.asciidoc
@@ -54,52 +54,44 @@ Settings settings = Settings.builder()
         .put("cluster.name", "prod").build();
 
 TransportClient transportClient = new PreBuiltTransportClient(settings)
-        .addTransportAddress(new TransportAddress(InetAddress.getByName("host"), 9300));
+        .addTransportAddress(new TransportAddress(InetAddress.getByName("localhost"), 9300))
+        .addTransportAddress(new TransportAddress(InetAddress.getByName("localhost"), 9301));
 --------------------------------------------------
 
-The initialization of a `RestHighLevelClient` is different. It first requires the initialization
-of a <<java-rest-low-usage-initialization,low-level client>>:
+The initialization of a `RestHighLevelClient` is different. It requires to provide
+a <<java-rest-low-usage-initialization,low-level client builder>> as a constructor
+argument:
 
-[source,java]
+["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
 --------------------------------------------------
-RestClient lowLevelRestClient = RestClient.builder(
-                new HttpHost("host", 9200, "http")).build();
+include-tagged::{doc-tests}/MainDocumentationIT.java[rest-high-level-client-init]
 --------------------------------------------------
 
 NOTE: The `RestClient` uses Elasticsearch's HTTP service which is
  bounded by default on `9200`. This port is different from the port
  used to connect to Elasticsearch with a `TransportClient`.
 
-Which is then passed to the constructor of the `RestHighLevelClient`:
+The `RestHighLevelClient` is thread-safe. It is typically instantiated by the
+application at startup time or when the first request is executed.
 
-[source,java]
---------------------------------------------------
-RestHighLevelClient client =
-    new RestHighLevelClient(lowLevelRestClient);
---------------------------------------------------
+Once the `RestHighLevelClient` is initialized, it can be used to execute any
+of the <<java-rest-high-supported-apis,supported APIs>>.
 
-Both `RestClient` and `RestHighLevelClient` are thread safe. They are
- typically instantiated by the application at startup time or when the
- first request is executed.
-
-Once the `RestHighLevelClient` is initialized, it can then be used to
-execute any of the <<java-rest-high-supported-apis,supported APIs>>.
-
-As with the `TransportClient`, the `RestClient` must be closed when it
+As with the `TransportClient`, the `RestHighLevelClient` must be closed when it
 is not needed anymore or when the application is stopped.
 
-So the code that closes the `TransportClient`:
+The code that closes the `TransportClient`:
 
 [source,java]
 --------------------------------------------------
 transportClient.close();
 --------------------------------------------------
 
-Must be replaced with:
+must be replaced with:
 
-[source,java]
+["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
 --------------------------------------------------
-lowLevelRestClient.close();
+include-tagged::{doc-tests}/MainDocumentationIT.java[rest-high-level-client-close]
 --------------------------------------------------
 
 === Changing the application's code
@@ -309,7 +301,8 @@ include-tagged::{doc-tests}/MigrationDocumentationIT.java[migration-create-inded
 set its content type (here, JSON)
 <6> Execute the request using the low-level client. The execution is synchronous
 and blocks on the `performRequest()` method until the remote cluster returns
-a response.
+a response. The low-level client can be retrieved from an existing `RestHighLevelClient`
+instance through the `getLowLevelClient` getter method.
 <7> Handle the situation where the index has not been created
 
 
@@ -339,7 +332,7 @@ With the low-level client, the code can be changed to:
 include-tagged::{doc-tests}/MigrationDocumentationIT.java[migration-cluster-health]
 --------------------------------------------------
 <1> Call the cluster's health REST endpoint using the default paramaters
-and gets back a `Response` object
+and gets back a `Response` object.
 <2> Retrieve an `InputStream` object in order to read the response's content
 <3> Parse the response's content using Elasticsearch's helper class `XContentHelper`. This
  helper requires the content type of the response to be passed as an argument and returns
diff --git a/docs/java-rest/high-level/usage.asciidoc b/docs/java-rest/high-level/usage.asciidoc
index 6430d2d71f2..fd56f362387 100644
--- a/docs/java-rest/high-level/usage.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/java-rest/high-level/usage.asciidoc
@@ -118,15 +118,26 @@ transitive dependencies:
 [[java-rest-high-usage-initialization]]
 === Initialization
 
-A `RestHighLevelClient` instance needs a <<java-rest-low-usage-initialization,REST low-level client>>
+A `RestHighLevelClient` instance needs a <<java-rest-low-usage-initialization,REST low-level client builder>>
 to be built as follows:
 
-[source,java]
+["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
 --------------------------------------------------
-RestHighLevelClient client =
-    new RestHighLevelClient(lowLevelRestClient); <1>
+include-tagged::{doc-tests}/MainDocumentationIT.java[rest-high-level-client-init]
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+The high-level client will internally create the low-level client used to
+perform requests based on the provided builder, and manage its lifecycle.
+
+The high-level client instance needs to be closed when no longer needed so that
+all the resources used by it get properly released, as well as the underlying
+http client instance and its threads. This can be done through the `close`
+method, which will close the internal `RestClient` instance.
+
+["source","java",subs="attributes,callouts,macros"]
+--------------------------------------------------
+include-tagged::{doc-tests}/MainDocumentationIT.java[rest-high-level-client-close]
 --------------------------------------------------
-<1> We pass the <<java-rest-low-usage-initialization,REST low-level client>> instance
 
 In the rest of this documentation about the Java High Level Client, the `RestHighLevelClient` instance
 will be referenced as `client`.
diff --git a/qa/mixed-cluster/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/backwards/IndexingIT.java b/qa/mixed-cluster/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/backwards/IndexingIT.java
index 8b9c322cddb..81a21db5345 100644
--- a/qa/mixed-cluster/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/backwards/IndexingIT.java
+++ b/qa/mixed-cluster/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/backwards/IndexingIT.java
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetaData;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.seqno.SeqNoStats;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.seqno.SequenceNumbersService;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.ESRestTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.yaml.ObjectPath;