diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequest.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequest.java
index 260fd5e732d..2eadbb5a6b2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequest.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequest.java
@@ -46,9 +46,10 @@ import java.util.List;
 import static org.elasticsearch.action.ValidateActions.addValidationError;
 
 /**
- * A bulk request holds an ordered {@link IndexRequest}s and {@link DeleteRequest}s and allows to executes
- * it in a single batch.
+ * A bulk request holds an ordered {@link IndexRequest}s, {@link DeleteRequest}s and {@link UpdateRequest}s
+ * and allows to executes it in a single batch.
  *
+ * Note that we only support refresh on the bulk request not per item.
  * @see org.elasticsearch.client.Client#bulk(BulkRequest)
  */
 public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest<BulkRequest> implements CompositeIndicesRequest {
@@ -89,6 +90,12 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest<BulkRequest> implements Composite
         return add(request, null);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Add a request to the current BulkRequest.
+     * @param request Request to add
+     * @param payload Optional payload
+     * @return the current bulk request
+     */
     public BulkRequest add(ActionRequest request, @Nullable Object payload) {
         if (request instanceof IndexRequest) {
             add((IndexRequest) request, payload);
@@ -127,7 +134,8 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest<BulkRequest> implements Composite
     BulkRequest internalAdd(IndexRequest request, @Nullable Object payload) {
         requests.add(request);
         addPayload(payload);
-        sizeInBytes += request.source().length() + REQUEST_OVERHEAD;
+        // lack of source is validated in validate() method
+        sizeInBytes += (request.source() != null ? request.source().length() : 0) + REQUEST_OVERHEAD;
         return this;
     }
 
@@ -478,8 +486,14 @@ public class BulkRequest extends ActionRequest<BulkRequest> implements Composite
         if (requests.isEmpty()) {
             validationException = addValidationError("no requests added", validationException);
         }
-        for (int i = 0; i < requests.size(); i++) {
-            ActionRequestValidationException ex = requests.get(i).validate();
+        for (ActionRequest request : requests) {
+            // We first check if refresh has been set
+            if ((request instanceof DeleteRequest && ((DeleteRequest)request).refresh()) ||
+                    (request instanceof UpdateRequest && ((UpdateRequest)request).refresh()) ||
+                    (request instanceof IndexRequest && ((IndexRequest)request).refresh())) {
+                    validationException = addValidationError("Refresh is not supported on an item request, set the refresh flag on the BulkRequest instead.", validationException);
+            }
+            ActionRequestValidationException ex = request.validate();
             if (ex != null) {
                 if (validationException == null) {
                     validationException = new ActionRequestValidationException();
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequestTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequestTests.java
index 0242edae317..78f96bab7b2 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequestTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkRequestTests.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.action.bulk;
 
 import org.apache.lucene.util.Constants;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionRequest;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionRequestValidationException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.delete.DeleteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.update.UpdateRequest;
@@ -36,9 +37,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.StreamsUtils.copyToStringFromClasspath;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.notNullValue;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.*;
 
 public class BulkRequestTests extends ESTestCase {
     public void testSimpleBulk1() throws Exception {
@@ -171,4 +170,39 @@ public class BulkRequestTests extends ESTestCase {
         bulkRequest.add(bulkAction.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), 0, bulkAction.length(), null, null);
         assertThat(bulkRequest.numberOfActions(), equalTo(9));
     }
+
+    // issue 7361
+    public void testBulkRequestWithRefresh() throws Exception {
+        BulkRequest bulkRequest = new BulkRequest();
+        // We force here a "id is missing" validation error
+        bulkRequest.add(new DeleteRequest("index", "type", null).refresh(true));
+        // We force here a "type is missing" validation error
+        bulkRequest.add(new DeleteRequest("index", null, "id"));
+        bulkRequest.add(new DeleteRequest("index", "type", "id").refresh(true));
+        bulkRequest.add(new UpdateRequest("index", "type", "id").doc("{}").refresh(true));
+        bulkRequest.add(new IndexRequest("index", "type", "id").source("{}").refresh(true));
+        ActionRequestValidationException validate = bulkRequest.validate();
+        assertThat(validate, notNullValue());
+        assertThat(validate.validationErrors(), not(empty()));
+        assertThat(validate.validationErrors(), contains(
+                "Refresh is not supported on an item request, set the refresh flag on the BulkRequest instead.",
+                "id is missing",
+                "type is missing",
+                "Refresh is not supported on an item request, set the refresh flag on the BulkRequest instead.",
+                "Refresh is not supported on an item request, set the refresh flag on the BulkRequest instead.",
+                "Refresh is not supported on an item request, set the refresh flag on the BulkRequest instead."));
+    }
+
+    // issue 15120
+    public void testBulkNoSource() throws Exception {
+        BulkRequest bulkRequest = new BulkRequest();
+        bulkRequest.add(new UpdateRequest("index", "type", "id"));
+        bulkRequest.add(new IndexRequest("index", "type", "id"));
+        ActionRequestValidationException validate = bulkRequest.validate();
+        assertThat(validate, notNullValue());
+        assertThat(validate.validationErrors(), not(empty()));
+        assertThat(validate.validationErrors(), contains(
+                "script or doc is missing",
+                "source is missing"));
+    }
 }