diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/cache/field/data/FieldDataCacheModule.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/cache/field/data/FieldDataCacheModule.java
index 7af5a051ad0..8300ce5a269 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/cache/field/data/FieldDataCacheModule.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/cache/field/data/FieldDataCacheModule.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.index.cache.field.data;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.AbstractModule;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Scopes;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.cache.field.data.soft.SoftFieldDataCache;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.cache.field.data.resident.ResidentFieldDataCache;
 
 /**
  * @author kimchy (shay.banon)
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public class FieldDataCacheModule extends AbstractModule {
 
     @Override protected void configure() {
         bind(FieldDataCache.class)
-                .to(settings.getAsClass(FieldDataCacheSettings.FIELD_DATA_CACHE_TYPE, SoftFieldDataCache.class, "org.elasticsearch.index.cache.field.data.", "FieldDataCache"))
+                .to(settings.getAsClass(FieldDataCacheSettings.FIELD_DATA_CACHE_TYPE, ResidentFieldDataCache.class, "org.elasticsearch.index.cache.field.data.", "FieldDataCache"))
                 .in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
     }
 }
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/cache/field/data/resident/ResidentFieldDataCache.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/cache/field/data/resident/ResidentFieldDataCache.java
index 8add27dfcee..f54a7b180e8 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/cache/field/data/resident/ResidentFieldDataCache.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/cache/field/data/resident/ResidentFieldDataCache.java
@@ -19,27 +19,64 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.index.cache.field.data.resident;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.ElasticSearchException;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.base.Objects;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.collect.MapEvictionListener;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.collect.MapMaker;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Inject;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.Index;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.cache.field.data.support.AbstractConcurrentMapFieldDataCache;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.field.data.FieldData;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.settings.IndexSettings;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.settings.IndexSettingsService;
 
-import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 
 /**
  * @author kimchy (shay.banon)
  */
-public class ResidentFieldDataCache extends AbstractConcurrentMapFieldDataCache {
+public class ResidentFieldDataCache extends AbstractConcurrentMapFieldDataCache implements MapEvictionListener<String, FieldData> {
 
-    @Inject public ResidentFieldDataCache(Index index, @IndexSettings Settings indexSettings) {
+    private final IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService;
+
+    private volatile int maxSize;
+    private volatile TimeValue expire;
+
+    private final AtomicLong evictions = new AtomicLong();
+
+    private final ApplySettings applySettings = new ApplySettings();
+
+    @Inject public ResidentFieldDataCache(Index index, @IndexSettings Settings indexSettings, IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService) {
         super(index, indexSettings);
+        this.indexSettingsService = indexSettingsService;
+
+        this.maxSize = indexSettings.getAsInt("index.cache.field.max_size", componentSettings.getAsInt("max_size", -1));
+        this.expire = indexSettings.getAsTime("index.cache.field.expire", componentSettings.getAsTime("expire", null));
+        logger.debug("using [resident] field cache with max_size [{}], expire [{}]", maxSize, expire);
+
+        indexSettingsService.addListener(applySettings);
+    }
+
+    @Override public void close() throws ElasticSearchException {
+        indexSettingsService.removeListener(applySettings);
+        super.close();
     }
 
     @Override protected ConcurrentMap<String, FieldData> buildFieldDataMap() {
-        return new ConcurrentHashMap<String, FieldData>();
+        MapMaker mapMaker = new MapMaker();
+        if (maxSize != -1) {
+            mapMaker.maximumSize(maxSize);
+        }
+        if (expire != null) {
+            mapMaker.expireAfterAccess(expire.nanos(), TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS);
+        }
+        mapMaker.evictionListener(this);
+        return mapMaker.makeMap();
     }
 
     @Override public String type() {
@@ -47,6 +84,31 @@ public class ResidentFieldDataCache extends AbstractConcurrentMapFieldDataCache
     }
 
     @Override public long evictions() {
-        return 0;
+        return evictions.get();
+    }
+
+    @Override public void onEviction(@Nullable String s, @Nullable FieldData fieldData) {
+        evictions.incrementAndGet();
+    }
+
+    class ApplySettings implements IndexSettingsService.Listener {
+        @Override public void onRefreshSettings(Settings settings) {
+            int maxSize = settings.getAsInt("index.cache.field.max_size", ResidentFieldDataCache.this.maxSize);
+            TimeValue expire = settings.getAsTime("index.cache.field.expire", ResidentFieldDataCache.this.expire);
+            boolean changed = false;
+            if (maxSize != ResidentFieldDataCache.this.maxSize) {
+                logger.info("updating index.cache.field.max_size from [{}] to [{}]", ResidentFieldDataCache.this.maxSize, maxSize);
+                changed = true;
+                ResidentFieldDataCache.this.maxSize = maxSize;
+            }
+            if (!Objects.equal(expire, ResidentFieldDataCache.this.expire)) {
+                logger.info("updating index.cache.field.expire from [{}] to [{}]", ResidentFieldDataCache.this.expire, expire);
+                changed = true;
+                ResidentFieldDataCache.this.expire = expire;
+            }
+            if (changed) {
+                clear();
+            }
+        }
     }
 }