diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/internal/TTLFieldMapper.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/internal/TTLFieldMapper.java
index aa179f1da2f..d9f672e4c72 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/internal/TTLFieldMapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/internal/TTLFieldMapper.java
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ public class TTLFieldMapper extends LongFieldMapper implements InternalMapper, R
             long ttl = context.sourceToParse().ttl();
             if (ttl <= 0 && defaultTTL > 0) { // no ttl provided so we use the default value
                 ttl = defaultTTL;
+                context.sourceToParse().ttl(ttl);
             }
             if (ttl > 0) { // a ttl has been provided either externally or in the _source
                 long timestamp = context.sourceToParse().timestamp();
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/ttl/SimpleTTLTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/ttl/SimpleTTLTests.java
index 3b8f00c041b..ed8736660ed 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/ttl/SimpleTTLTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/ttl/SimpleTTLTests.java
@@ -72,13 +72,22 @@ public class SimpleTTLTests extends AbstractNodesTests {
                         .startObject("_ttl").field("enabled", true).field("store", "yes").endObject()
                         .endObject()
                         .endObject())
+                .addMapping("type2", XContentFactory.jsonBuilder()
+                        .startObject()
+                        .startObject("type2")
+                        .startObject("_timestamp").field("enabled", true).field("store", "yes").endObject()
+                        .startObject("_ttl").field("enabled", true).field("store", "yes").field("default", "1d").endObject()
+                        .endObject()
+                        .endObject())
                 .execute().actionGet();
         client.admin().cluster().prepareHealth().setWaitForGreenStatus().execute().actionGet();
         long providedTTLValue = 3000;
         logger.info("--> checking ttl");
-        // Index one doc without routing and one doc with routing
+        // Index one doc without routing, one doc with routing, one doc with not TTL and no default and one doc with default TTL
         client.prepareIndex("test", "type1", "1").setSource("field1", "value1").setTTL(providedTTLValue).setRefresh(true).execute().actionGet();
         client.prepareIndex("test", "type1", "with_routing").setSource("field1", "value1").setTTL(providedTTLValue).setRouting("routing").setRefresh(true).execute().actionGet();
+        client.prepareIndex("test", "type1", "no_ttl").setSource("field1", "value1").execute().actionGet();
+        client.prepareIndex("test", "type2", "default_ttl").setSource("field1", "value1").execute().actionGet();
         long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
 
         // realtime get check
@@ -106,6 +115,14 @@ public class SimpleTTLTests extends AbstractNodesTests {
         assertThat(ttl0, greaterThan(0L));
         assertThat(ttl0, lessThan(providedTTLValue - (now1 - now)));
 
+        // no TTL provided so no TTL fetched
+        getResponse = client.prepareGet("test", "type1", "no_ttl").setFields("_ttl").setRealtime(true).execute().actionGet();
+        assertThat(getResponse.field("_ttl"), nullValue());
+        // no TTL provided make sure it has default TTL
+        getResponse = client.prepareGet("test", "type2", "default_ttl").setFields("_ttl").setRealtime(true).execute().actionGet();
+        ttl0 = ((Number) getResponse.field("_ttl").value()).longValue();
+        assertThat(ttl0, greaterThan(0L));
+
         logger.info("--> checking purger");
         // make sure the purger has done its job for all indexed docs that are expired
         long shouldBeExpiredDate = now + providedTTLValue + purgeInterval + 2000;