diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/IndexTemplateMetaData.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/IndexTemplateMetaData.java
index 0267facaed5..813858ceaad 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/IndexTemplateMetaData.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/IndexTemplateMetaData.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public class IndexTemplateMetaData {
 
     // the mapping source should always include the type as top level
     private final ImmutableOpenMap<String, CompressedString> mappings;
-    
+
     private final ImmutableOpenMap<String, AliasMetaData> aliases;
 
     private final ImmutableOpenMap<String, IndexMetaData.Custom> customs;
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public class IndexTemplateMetaData {
     public ImmutableOpenMap<String, AliasMetaData> aliases() {
         return this.aliases;
     }
-    
+
     public ImmutableOpenMap<String, AliasMetaData> getAliases() {
         return this.aliases;
     }
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ public class IndexTemplateMetaData {
         private Settings settings = ImmutableSettings.Builder.EMPTY_SETTINGS;
 
         private final ImmutableOpenMap.Builder<String, CompressedString> mappings;
-        
+
         private final ImmutableOpenMap.Builder<String, AliasMetaData> aliases;
 
         private final ImmutableOpenMap.Builder<String, IndexMetaData.Custom> customs;
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ public class IndexTemplateMetaData {
             mappings.put(mappingType, new CompressedString(mappingSource));
             return this;
         }
-        
+
         public Builder putAlias(AliasMetaData aliasMetaData) {
             aliases.put(aliasMetaData.alias(), aliasMetaData);
             return this;
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ public class IndexTemplateMetaData {
                 IndexMetaData.lookupFactorySafe(cursor.key).toXContent(cursor.value, builder, params);
                 builder.endObject();
             }
-            
+
             builder.startObject("aliases");
             for (ObjectCursor<AliasMetaData> cursor : indexTemplateMetaData.aliases().values()) {
                 AliasMetaData.Builder.toXContent(cursor.value, builder, params);
@@ -318,8 +318,8 @@ public class IndexTemplateMetaData {
             builder.endObject();
         }
 
-        public static IndexTemplateMetaData fromXContent(XContentParser parser) throws IOException {
-            Builder builder = new Builder(parser.currentName());
+        public static IndexTemplateMetaData fromXContent(XContentParser parser, String templateName) throws IOException {
+            Builder builder = new Builder(templateName);
 
             String currentFieldName = skipTemplateName(parser);
             XContentParser.Token token;
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaData.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaData.java
index 44ca787c20e..c77e04867c0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaData.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaData.java
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ public class MetaData implements Iterable<IndexMetaData> {
         }
         return mapBuilder.build();
     }
-    
+
     private boolean matchAllAliases(final String[] aliases) {
         for (String alias : aliases) {
             if (alias.equals("_all")) {
@@ -1011,7 +1011,7 @@ public class MetaData implements Iterable<IndexMetaData> {
     public static boolean isAllIndices(String[] aliasesOrIndices) {
         return aliasesOrIndices == null || aliasesOrIndices.length == 0 || isExplicitAllPattern(aliasesOrIndices);
     }
-    
+
     /**
      * Identifies whether the array containing type names given as argument refers to all types
      * The empty or null array identifies all types
@@ -1359,7 +1359,7 @@ public class MetaData implements Iterable<IndexMetaData> {
                         }
                     } else if ("templates".equals(currentFieldName)) {
                         while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != XContentParser.Token.END_OBJECT) {
-                            builder.put(IndexTemplateMetaData.Builder.fromXContent(parser));
+                            builder.put(IndexTemplateMetaData.Builder.fromXContent(parser, parser.currentName()));
                         }
                     } else {
                         // check if its a custom index metadata
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
index 2ffd1611a4a..0eaf6360af6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
@@ -246,6 +246,8 @@ public class MetaDataCreateIndexService extends AbstractComponent {
 
                     Map<String, AliasMetaData> templatesAliases = Maps.newHashMap();
 
+                    List<String> templateNames = Lists.newArrayList();
+
                     for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : request.mappings().entrySet()) {
                         mappings.put(entry.getKey(), parseMapping(entry.getValue()));
                     }
@@ -256,6 +258,7 @@ public class MetaDataCreateIndexService extends AbstractComponent {
 
                     // apply templates, merging the mappings into the request mapping if exists
                     for (IndexTemplateMetaData template : templates) {
+                        templateNames.add(template.getName());
                         for (ObjectObjectCursor<String, CompressedString> cursor : template.mappings()) {
                             if (mappings.containsKey(cursor.key)) {
                                 XContentHelper.mergeDefaults(mappings.get(cursor.key), parseMapping(cursor.value.string()));
@@ -446,7 +449,7 @@ public class MetaDataCreateIndexService extends AbstractComponent {
                             .put(indexMetaData, false)
                             .build();
 
-                    logger.info("[{}] creating index, cause [{}], shards [{}]/[{}], mappings {}", request.index(), request.cause(), indexMetaData.numberOfShards(), indexMetaData.numberOfReplicas(), mappings.keySet());
+                    logger.info("[{}] creating index, cause [{}], templates {}, shards [{}]/[{}], mappings {}", request.index(), request.cause(), templateNames, indexMetaData.numberOfShards(), indexMetaData.numberOfReplicas(), mappings.keySet());
 
                     ClusterBlocks.Builder blocks = ClusterBlocks.builder().blocks(currentState.blocks());
                     if (!request.blocks().isEmpty()) {
@@ -518,18 +521,20 @@ public class MetaDataCreateIndexService extends AbstractComponent {
             File[] templatesFiles = templatesDir.listFiles();
             if (templatesFiles != null) {
                 for (File templatesFile : templatesFiles) {
-                    XContentParser parser = null;
-                    try {
-                        byte[] templatesData = Streams.copyToByteArray(templatesFile);
-                        parser = XContentHelper.createParser(templatesData, 0, templatesData.length);
-                        IndexTemplateMetaData template = IndexTemplateMetaData.Builder.fromXContent(parser);
-                        if (indexTemplateFilter.apply(request, template)) {
-                            templates.add(template);
+                    if (templatesFile.isFile()) {
+                        XContentParser parser = null;
+                        try {
+                            byte[] templatesData = Streams.copyToByteArray(templatesFile);
+                            parser = XContentHelper.createParser(templatesData, 0, templatesData.length);
+                            IndexTemplateMetaData template = IndexTemplateMetaData.Builder.fromXContent(parser, templatesFile.getName());
+                            if (indexTemplateFilter.apply(request, template)) {
+                                templates.add(template);
+                            }
+                        } catch (Exception e) {
+                            logger.warn("[{}] failed to read template [{}] from config", e, request.index(), templatesFile.getAbsolutePath());
+                        } finally {
+                            Releasables.closeWhileHandlingException(parser);
                         }
-                    } catch (Exception e) {
-                        logger.warn("[{}] failed to read template [{}] from config", e, request.index(), templatesFile.getAbsolutePath());
-                    } finally {
-                        Releasables.closeWhileHandlingException(parser);
                     }
                 }
             }