diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/get/GetRequest.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/get/GetRequest.java
index 2221e818c23..48bc1b032f8 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/get/GetRequest.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/get/GetRequest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.action.get;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.single.shard.SingleShardOperationRequest;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Required;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 /**
- * A request to get a document (its source) from an index based on its type and id. Best created using
+ * A request to get a document (its source) from an index based on its type (optional) and id. Best created using
  * {@link org.elasticsearch.client.Requests#getRequest(String)}.
  *
  * <p>The operation requires the {@link #index()}, {@link #type(String)} and {@link #id(String)}
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ public class GetRequest extends SingleShardOperationRequest {
     Boolean realtime;
 
     GetRequest() {
+        type = "_all";
     }
 
     /**
@@ -54,7 +56,7 @@ public class GetRequest extends SingleShardOperationRequest {
      * must be set.
      */
     public GetRequest(String index) {
-        super(index, null, null);
+        super(index, "_all", null);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -79,7 +81,10 @@ public class GetRequest extends SingleShardOperationRequest {
     /**
      * Sets the type of the document to fetch.
      */
-    @Required public GetRequest type(String type) {
+    public GetRequest type(@Nullable String type) {
+        if (type == null) {
+            type = "_all";
+        }
         this.type = type;
         return this;
     }
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/get/TransportGetAction.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/get/TransportGetAction.java
index d0d852f7deb..f3790cdc3bd 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/get/TransportGetAction.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/get/TransportGetAction.java
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.Engine;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.DocumentMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.FieldMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.FieldMappers;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.Uid;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.internal.UidFieldMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.selector.FieldMappersFieldSelector;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.service.IndexService;
@@ -110,7 +111,28 @@ public class TransportGetAction extends TransportShardSingleOperationAction<GetR
         IndexService indexService = indicesService.indexServiceSafe(request.index());
         IndexShard indexShard = indexService.shardSafe(shardId);
 
-        DocumentMapper docMapper = indexService.mapperService().documentMapper(request.type());
+        String type = null;
+        Engine.GetResult get = null;
+        if (request.type() == null || request.type().equals("_all")) {
+            for (String typeX : indexService.mapperService().types()) {
+                get = indexShard.get(new Engine.Get(request.realtime(), UidFieldMapper.TERM_FACTORY.createTerm(Uid.createUid(typeX, request.id()))));
+                if (get.exists()) {
+                    type = typeX;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            if (get == null || !get.exists()) {
+                return new GetResponse(request.index(), request.type(), request.id(), -1, false, null, null);
+            }
+        } else {
+            type = request.type();
+            get = indexShard.get(new Engine.Get(request.realtime(), UidFieldMapper.TERM_FACTORY.createTerm(Uid.createUid(type, request.id()))));
+            if (!get.exists()) {
+                return new GetResponse(request.index(), request.type(), request.id(), -1, false, null, null);
+            }
+        }
+
+        DocumentMapper docMapper = indexService.mapperService().documentMapper(type);
         if (docMapper == null) {
             return new GetResponse(request.index(), request.type(), request.id(), -1, false, null, null);
         }
@@ -119,12 +141,8 @@ public class TransportGetAction extends TransportShardSingleOperationAction<GetR
             indexShard.refresh(new Engine.Refresh(false));
         }
 
-        Engine.GetResult get = indexShard.get(new Engine.Get(request.realtime(), docMapper.uidMapper().term(request.type(), request.id())));
-        try {
-            if (!get.exists()) {
-                return new GetResponse(request.index(), request.type(), request.id(), -1, false, null, null);
-            }
 
+        try {
             // break between having loaded it from translog (so we only have _source), and having a document to load
             if (get.docIdAndVersion() != null) {
                 Map<String, GetField> fields = null;
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/Client.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/Client.java
index 9c8e5e34f6e..1906bf8f5f4 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/Client.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/Client.java
@@ -228,9 +228,9 @@ public interface Client {
     GetRequestBuilder prepareGet();
 
     /**
-     * Gets the document that was indexed from an index with a type and id.
+     * Gets the document that was indexed from an index with a type (optional) and id.
      */
-    GetRequestBuilder prepareGet(String index, String type, String id);
+    GetRequestBuilder prepareGet(String index, @Nullable String type, String id);
 
     /**
      * A count of all the documents matching a specific query.
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/action/get/GetRequestBuilder.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/action/get/GetRequestBuilder.java
index 7e90744891a..eaa2d1359c8 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/action/get/GetRequestBuilder.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/action/get/GetRequestBuilder.java
@@ -46,9 +46,10 @@ public class GetRequestBuilder extends BaseRequestBuilder<GetRequest, GetRespons
     }
 
     /**
-     * Sets the type of the document to fetch.
+     * Sets the type of the document to fetch. If set to <tt>null</tt>, will use just the id to fetch the
+     * first document matching it.
      */
-    public GetRequestBuilder setType(String type) {
+    public GetRequestBuilder setType(@Nullable String type) {
         request.type(type);
         return this;
     }
diff --git a/modules/test/integration/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/document/GetActionTests.java b/modules/test/integration/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/document/GetActionTests.java
index 1f3915746ee..a3da4e8154d 100644
--- a/modules/test/integration/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/document/GetActionTests.java
+++ b/modules/test/integration/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/document/GetActionTests.java
@@ -72,6 +72,12 @@ public class GetActionTests extends AbstractNodesTests {
         assertThat(response.sourceAsMap().get("field1").toString(), equalTo("value1"));
         assertThat(response.sourceAsMap().get("field2").toString(), equalTo("value2"));
 
+        logger.info("--> realtime get 1 (no type)");
+        response = client.prepareGet("test", null, "1").execute().actionGet();
+        assertThat(response.exists(), equalTo(true));
+        assertThat(response.sourceAsMap().get("field1").toString(), equalTo("value1"));
+        assertThat(response.sourceAsMap().get("field2").toString(), equalTo("value2"));
+
         logger.info("--> non realtime get 1");
         response = client.prepareGet("test", "type1", "1").setRealtime(false).execute().actionGet();
         assertThat(response.exists(), equalTo(false));