diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/RangeQueryBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/RangeQueryBuilder.java
index 548b233dbfe..4cb87df7bb6 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/RangeQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/RangeQueryBuilder.java
@@ -304,6 +304,10 @@ public class RangeQueryBuilder extends MultiTermQueryBuilder<RangeQueryBuilder>
         }
 
         if (query == null) {
+            if (this.timeZone != null) {
+                throw new QueryParsingException(parseContext, "[range] time_zone can not be applied to non date field ["
+                        + fieldName + "]");
+            }
             query = new TermRangeQuery(this.fieldName, BytesRefs.toBytesRef(from), BytesRefs.toBytesRef(to), includeLower, includeUpper);
         }