diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/Engine.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/Engine.java
index 7763c8d04a4..6e93d1feed5 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/Engine.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/Engine.java
@@ -1102,8 +1102,8 @@ public abstract class Engine implements Closeable {
         public Delete(String type, String id, Term uid, long seqNo, long primaryTerm, long version, VersionType versionType,
                       Origin origin, long startTime) {
             super(uid, seqNo, primaryTerm, version, versionType, origin, startTime);
-            this.type = type;
-            this.id = id;
+            this.type = Objects.requireNonNull(type);
+            this.id = Objects.requireNonNull(id);
         }
 
         public Delete(String type, String id, Term uid) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/Translog.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/Translog.java
index 032d26d890a..d4a5fe0d99f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/Translog.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/Translog.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ReleasableLock;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.VersionType;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.Engine;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.Uid;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.seqno.SequenceNumbersService;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.AbstractIndexShardComponent;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.IndexShardComponent;
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReadWriteLock;
@@ -919,8 +921,8 @@ public class Translog extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndexShardC
         private final String id;
         private final long autoGeneratedIdTimestamp;
         private final String type;
-        private long seqNo = SequenceNumbersService.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO;
-        private long primaryTerm = 0;
+        private final long seqNo;
+        private final long primaryTerm;
         private final long version;
         private final VersionType versionType;
         private final BytesReference source;
@@ -950,6 +952,9 @@ public class Translog extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndexShardC
             if (format >= FORMAT_SEQ_NO) {
                 seqNo = in.readLong();
                 primaryTerm = in.readLong();
+            } else {
+                seqNo = SequenceNumbersService.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO;
+                primaryTerm = 0;
             }
         }
 
@@ -976,6 +981,7 @@ public class Translog extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndexShardC
             this.id = id;
             this.source = new BytesArray(source);
             this.seqNo = seqNo;
+            this.primaryTerm = 0;
             this.version = version;
             this.versionType = versionType;
             this.routing = routing;
@@ -1113,27 +1119,42 @@ public class Translog extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndexShardC
 
     public static class Delete implements Operation {
 
-        private static final int FORMAT_5_X = 2;
-        private static final int FORMAT_SEQ_NO = FORMAT_5_X + 1;
+        public static final int FORMAT_5_0 = 2; // 5.0 - 5.5
+        private static final int FORMAT_SINGLE_TYPE = FORMAT_5_0 + 1; // 5.5 - 6.0
+        private static final int FORMAT_SEQ_NO = FORMAT_SINGLE_TYPE + 1; // 6.0 - *
         public static final int SERIALIZATION_FORMAT = FORMAT_SEQ_NO;
 
-        private String type, id;
-        private Term uid;
-        private long seqNo = SequenceNumbersService.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO;
-        private long primaryTerm = 0;
-        private long version = Versions.MATCH_ANY;
-        private VersionType versionType = VersionType.INTERNAL;
+        private final String type, id;
+        private final Term uid;
+        private final long seqNo;
+        private final long primaryTerm;
+        private final long version;
+        private final VersionType versionType;
 
         public Delete(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
             final int format = in.readVInt();// SERIALIZATION_FORMAT
-            assert format >= FORMAT_5_X : "format was: " + format;
-            uid = new Term(in.readString(), in.readString());
+            assert format >= FORMAT_5_0 : "format was: " + format;
+            if (format >= FORMAT_SINGLE_TYPE) {
+                type = in.readString();
+                id = in.readString();
+                uid = new Term(in.readString(), in.readString());
+            } else {
+                uid = new Term(in.readString(), in.readString());
+                // the uid was constructed from the type and id so we can
+                // extract them back
+                Uid uidObject = Uid.createUid(uid.text());
+                type = uidObject.type();
+                id = uidObject.id();
+            }
             this.version = in.readLong();
             this.versionType = VersionType.fromValue(in.readByte());
             assert versionType.validateVersionForWrites(this.version);
             if (format >= FORMAT_SEQ_NO) {
                 seqNo = in.readLong();
                 primaryTerm = in.readLong();
+            } else {
+                seqNo = SequenceNumbersService.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO;
+                primaryTerm = 0;
             }
         }
 
@@ -1147,8 +1168,8 @@ public class Translog extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndexShardC
         }
 
         public Delete(String type, String id, Term uid, long seqNo, long primaryTerm, long version, VersionType versionType) {
-            this.type = type;
-            this.id = id;
+            this.type = Objects.requireNonNull(type);
+            this.id = Objects.requireNonNull(id);
             this.uid = uid;
             this.seqNo = seqNo;
             this.primaryTerm = primaryTerm;
@@ -1204,6 +1225,8 @@ public class Translog extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndexShardC
         @Override
         public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
             out.writeVInt(SERIALIZATION_FORMAT);
+            out.writeString(type);
+            out.writeString(id);
             out.writeString(uid.field());
             out.writeString(uid.text());
             out.writeLong(version);
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
index 31a99063fb6..16e746a67f7 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
@@ -1939,7 +1939,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ESTestCase {
         indexResult = engine.index(index);
         assertFalse(indexResult.isCreated());
 
-        engine.delete(new Engine.Delete(null, "1", newUid(doc)));
+        engine.delete(new Engine.Delete("doc", "1", newUid(doc)));
 
         index = indexForDoc(doc);
         indexResult = engine.index(index);
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/TranslogTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/TranslogTests.java
index b911e9a5a48..ee7073fd53b 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/TranslogTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/TranslogTests.java
@@ -354,24 +354,24 @@ public class TranslogTests extends ESTestCase {
         {
             final TranslogStats stats = stats();
             assertThat(stats.estimatedNumberOfOperations(), equalTo(2L));
-            assertThat(stats.getTranslogSizeInBytes(), equalTo(139L));
+            assertThat(stats.getTranslogSizeInBytes(), equalTo(146L));
         }
 
         translog.add(new Translog.Delete("test", "3", 2, newUid("3")));
         {
             final TranslogStats stats = stats();
             assertThat(stats.estimatedNumberOfOperations(), equalTo(3L));
-            assertThat(stats.getTranslogSizeInBytes(), equalTo(181L));
+            assertThat(stats.getTranslogSizeInBytes(), equalTo(195L));
         }
 
         translog.add(new Translog.NoOp(3, 1, randomAlphaOfLength(16)));
         {
             final TranslogStats stats = stats();
             assertThat(stats.estimatedNumberOfOperations(), equalTo(4L));
-            assertThat(stats.getTranslogSizeInBytes(), equalTo(223L));
+            assertThat(stats.getTranslogSizeInBytes(), equalTo(237L));
         }
 
-        final long expectedSizeInBytes = 266L;
+        final long expectedSizeInBytes = 280L;
         translog.rollGeneration();
         {
             final TranslogStats stats = stats();
@@ -2263,6 +2263,20 @@ public class TranslogTests extends ESTestCase {
         in = out.bytes().streamInput();
         Translog.Delete serializedDelete = new Translog.Delete(in);
         assertEquals(delete, serializedDelete);
+
+        // simulate legacy delete serialization
+        out = new BytesStreamOutput();
+        out.writeVInt(Translog.Delete.FORMAT_5_0);
+        out.writeString(UidFieldMapper.NAME);
+        out.writeString("my_type#my_id");
+        out.writeLong(3); // version
+        out.writeByte(VersionType.INTERNAL.getValue());
+        out.writeLong(2); // seq no
+        out.writeLong(0); // primary term
+        in = out.bytes().streamInput();
+        serializedDelete = new Translog.Delete(in);
+        assertEquals("my_type", serializedDelete.type());
+        assertEquals("my_id", serializedDelete.id());
     }
 
     public void testRollGeneration() throws IOException {