diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpServerTransport.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpServerTransport.java
index 157ac1bcc35..803310b2599 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpServerTransport.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpServerTransport.java
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ public class NettyHttpServerTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<HttpSer
         this.publishHost = componentSettings.get("publish_host");
         this.tcpNoDelay = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("tcp_no_delay", true);
         this.tcpKeepAlive = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("tcp_keep_alive", null);
-        this.reuseAddress = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("reuse_address", true);
+        this.reuseAddress = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("reuse_address", null);
         this.tcpSendBufferSize = componentSettings.getAsSize("tcp_send_buffer_size", null);
         this.tcpReceiveBufferSize = componentSettings.getAsSize("tcp_receive_buffer_size", null);
 
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
index f11bcfbe9d8..2c094dceefa 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ public class NettyTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implem
         this.connectRetries = componentSettings.getAsInt("connect_retries", 2);
         this.tcpNoDelay = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("tcp_no_delay", true);
         this.tcpKeepAlive = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("tcp_keep_alive", null);
-        this.reuseAddress = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("reuse_address", true);
+        this.reuseAddress = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("reuse_address", null);
         this.tcpSendBufferSize = componentSettings.getAsSize("tcp_send_buffer_size", null);
         this.tcpReceiveBufferSize = componentSettings.getAsSize("tcp_receive_buffer_size", null);
     }