diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/http/client/HttpDownloadHelper.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/http/client/HttpDownloadHelper.java
index 6940fc430e1..45d9f926f7d 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/http/client/HttpDownloadHelper.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/http/client/HttpDownloadHelper.java
@@ -258,6 +258,7 @@ public class HttpDownloadHelper {
             if (connection instanceof HttpURLConnection) {
                 ((HttpURLConnection) connection).setInstanceFollowRedirects(false);
                 ((HttpURLConnection) connection).setUseCaches(true);
+                ((HttpURLConnection) connection).setConnectTimeout(5000);
             }
             // connect to the remote site (may take some time)
             connection.connect();
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/HttpRequestHandler.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/HttpRequestHandler.java
index c96fbbd4f05..c36a967a976 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/HttpRequestHandler.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/HttpRequestHandler.java
@@ -19,7 +19,11 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.http.netty;
 
-import org.elasticsearch.common.netty.channel.*;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.netty.channel.ChannelHandler;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.netty.channel.ExceptionEvent;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.netty.channel.MessageEvent;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.netty.channel.SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpRequest;
 
 
@@ -37,7 +41,7 @@ public class HttpRequestHandler extends SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler {
 
     @Override public void messageReceived(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, MessageEvent e) throws Exception {
         HttpRequest request = (HttpRequest) e.getMessage();
-        serverTransport.dispatchRequest(new NettyHttpRequest(request), new NettyHttpChannel(e.getChannel(), request));
+        serverTransport.dispatchRequest(new NettyHttpRequest(request), new NettyHttpChannel(serverTransport, e.getChannel(), request));
         super.messageReceived(ctx, e);
     }
 
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpChannel.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpChannel.java
index 36db4aedd9d..f2d35a37ebe 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpChannel.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpChannel.java
@@ -48,10 +48,12 @@ import java.util.Set;
  * @author kimchy (shay.banon)
  */
 public class NettyHttpChannel implements HttpChannel {
+    private final NettyHttpServerTransport transport;
     private final Channel channel;
     private final org.elasticsearch.common.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpRequest request;
 
-    public NettyHttpChannel(Channel channel, org.elasticsearch.common.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpRequest request) {
+    public NettyHttpChannel(NettyHttpServerTransport transport, Channel channel, org.elasticsearch.common.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpRequest request) {
+        this.transport = transport;
         this.channel = channel;
         this.request = request;
     }
@@ -126,17 +128,19 @@ public class NettyHttpChannel implements HttpChannel {
 
         resp.setHeader(HttpHeaders.Names.CONTENT_LENGTH, String.valueOf(buf.readableBytes()));
 
-        String cookieString = request.getHeader(HttpHeaders.Names.COOKIE);
-        if (cookieString != null) {
-            CookieDecoder cookieDecoder = new CookieDecoder();
-            Set<Cookie> cookies = cookieDecoder.decode(cookieString);
-            if (!cookies.isEmpty()) {
-                // Reset the cookies if necessary.
-                CookieEncoder cookieEncoder = new CookieEncoder(true);
-                for (Cookie cookie : cookies) {
-                    cookieEncoder.addCookie(cookie);
+        if (transport.resetCookies) {
+            String cookieString = request.getHeader(HttpHeaders.Names.COOKIE);
+            if (cookieString != null) {
+                CookieDecoder cookieDecoder = new CookieDecoder();
+                Set<Cookie> cookies = cookieDecoder.decode(cookieString);
+                if (!cookies.isEmpty()) {
+                    // Reset the cookies if necessary.
+                    CookieEncoder cookieEncoder = new CookieEncoder(true);
+                    for (Cookie cookie : cookies) {
+                        cookieEncoder.addCookie(cookie);
+                    }
+                    resp.addHeader(HttpHeaders.Names.SET_COOKIE, cookieEncoder.encode());
                 }
-                resp.addHeader(HttpHeaders.Names.SET_COOKIE, cookieEncoder.encode());
             }
         }
 
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 45f05e7be1a..81c5e1310ac 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
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ public class NettyHttpServerTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<HttpSer
 
     private final int compressionLevel;
 
+    final boolean resetCookies;
+
     private final String port;
 
     private final String bindHost;
@@ -128,6 +130,9 @@ public class NettyHttpServerTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<HttpSer
         this.maxChunkSize = componentSettings.getAsBytesSize("max_chunk_size", settings.getAsBytesSize("http.max_chunk_size", new ByteSizeValue(8, ByteSizeUnit.KB)));
         this.maxHeaderSize = componentSettings.getAsBytesSize("max_header_size", settings.getAsBytesSize("http.max_header_size", new ByteSizeValue(8, ByteSizeUnit.KB)));
         this.maxInitialLineLength = componentSettings.getAsBytesSize("max_initial_line_length", settings.getAsBytesSize("http.max_initial_line_length", new ByteSizeValue(4, ByteSizeUnit.KB)));
+        // don't reset cookies by default, since I don't think we really need to, and parsing of cookies with netty is slow
+        // and requires a large stack allocation because of the use of regex
+        this.resetCookies = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("reset_cookies", settings.getAsBoolean("http.reset_cookies", false));
         this.workerCount = componentSettings.getAsInt("worker_count", Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors() * 2);
         this.blockingServer = settings.getAsBoolean("http.blocking_server", settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING_SERVER, settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING, false)));
         this.port = componentSettings.get("port", settings.get("http.port", "9200-9300"));