diff --git a/plugins/analysis-icu/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_icu/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/analysis-icu/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_icu/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-icu/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_icu/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-icu/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_icu/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-icu/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_icu/20_search.yaml b/plugins/analysis-icu/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_icu/20_search.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-icu/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_icu/20_search.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-icu/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_icu/20_search.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-kuromoji/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_kuromoji/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/analysis-kuromoji/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_kuromoji/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-kuromoji/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_kuromoji/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-kuromoji/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_kuromoji/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-kuromoji/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_kuromoji/20_search.yaml b/plugins/analysis-kuromoji/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_kuromoji/20_search.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-kuromoji/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_kuromoji/20_search.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-kuromoji/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_kuromoji/20_search.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-phonetic/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/10_metaphone.yaml b/plugins/analysis-phonetic/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/10_metaphone.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-phonetic/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/10_metaphone.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-phonetic/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/10_metaphone.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-phonetic/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/20_double_metaphone.yaml b/plugins/analysis-phonetic/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/20_double_metaphone.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-phonetic/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/20_double_metaphone.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-phonetic/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/20_double_metaphone.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-phonetic/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/30_beider_morse.yaml b/plugins/analysis-phonetic/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/30_beider_morse.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-phonetic/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/30_beider_morse.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-phonetic/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/30_beider_morse.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-phonetic/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/40_search.yaml b/plugins/analysis-phonetic/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/40_search.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-phonetic/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/40_search.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-phonetic/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_phonetic/40_search.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-smartcn/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_smartcn/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/analysis-smartcn/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_smartcn/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-smartcn/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_smartcn/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-smartcn/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_smartcn/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-smartcn/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_smartcn/20_search.yaml b/plugins/analysis-smartcn/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_smartcn/20_search.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-smartcn/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_smartcn/20_search.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-smartcn/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_smartcn/20_search.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-stempel/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_stempel/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/analysis-stempel/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_stempel/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-stempel/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_stempel/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-stempel/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_stempel/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/analysis-stempel/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_stempel/20_search.yaml b/plugins/analysis-stempel/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_stempel/20_search.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/analysis-stempel/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_stempel/20_search.yaml
rename to plugins/analysis-stempel/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/analysis_stempel/20_search.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/cloud-azure/rest-api-spec/test/cloud_azure/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/cloud-azure/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cloud_azure/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/cloud-azure/rest-api-spec/test/cloud_azure/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/cloud-azure/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cloud_azure/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/cloud-gce/rest-api-spec/test/cloud_gce/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/cloud-gce/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cloud_gce/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/cloud-gce/rest-api-spec/test/cloud_gce/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/cloud-gce/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cloud_gce/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/delete-by-query/rest-api-spec/api/delete_by_query.json b/plugins/delete-by-query/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/api/delete_by_query.json
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/delete-by-query/rest-api-spec/api/delete_by_query.json
rename to plugins/delete-by-query/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/api/delete_by_query.json
diff --git a/plugins/delete-by-query/rest-api-spec/test/delete_by_query/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/delete-by-query/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/delete_by_query/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/delete-by-query/rest-api-spec/test/delete_by_query/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/delete-by-query/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/delete_by_query/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/discovery-ec2/rest-api-spec/test/discovery_ec2/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/discovery_ec2/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/discovery-ec2/rest-api-spec/test/discovery_ec2/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/discovery-ec2/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/discovery_ec2/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/discovery-multicast/rest-api-spec/test/discovery_multicast/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/discovery-multicast/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/discovery_multicast/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/discovery-multicast/rest-api-spec/test/discovery_multicast/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/discovery-multicast/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/discovery_multicast/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/jvm-example/rest-api-spec/api/cat.configured_example.json b/plugins/jvm-example/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/api/cat.configured_example.json
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/jvm-example/rest-api-spec/api/cat.configured_example.json
rename to plugins/jvm-example/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/api/cat.configured_example.json
diff --git a/plugins/jvm-example/rest-api-spec/test/jvm_example/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/jvm-example/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/jvm_example/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/jvm-example/rest-api-spec/test/jvm_example/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/jvm-example/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/jvm_example/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/jvm-example/rest-api-spec/test/jvm_example/20_configured_example.yaml b/plugins/jvm-example/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/jvm_example/20_configured_example.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/jvm-example/rest-api-spec/test/jvm_example/20_configured_example.yaml
rename to plugins/jvm-example/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/jvm_example/20_configured_example.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/lang-javascript/rest-api-spec/test/lang_javascript/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/lang-javascript/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_javascript/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/lang-javascript/rest-api-spec/test/lang_javascript/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/lang-javascript/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_javascript/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/lang-javascript/rest-api-spec/test/lang_javascript/20_search.yaml b/plugins/lang-javascript/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_javascript/20_search.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/lang-javascript/rest-api-spec/test/lang_javascript/20_search.yaml
rename to plugins/lang-javascript/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_javascript/20_search.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/lang-python/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/lang-python/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/lang-python/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/lang-python/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/lang-python/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/20_search.yaml b/plugins/lang-python/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/20_search.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/lang-python/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/20_search.yaml
rename to plugins/lang-python/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/20_search.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/lang-python/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/30_update.yaml b/plugins/lang-python/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/30_update.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/lang-python/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/30_update.yaml
rename to plugins/lang-python/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_python/30_update.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/mapper-murmur3/rest-api-spec/test/mapper_murmur3/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/mapper-murmur3/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/mapper_murmur3/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/mapper-murmur3/rest-api-spec/test/mapper_murmur3/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/mapper-murmur3/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/mapper_murmur3/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/mapper-size/rest-api-spec/test/mapper_size/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/mapper-size/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/mapper_size/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/mapper-size/rest-api-spec/test/mapper_size/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/mapper-size/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/mapper_size/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/pom.xml b/plugins/pom.xml
index cd131328d38..82a79510bd7 100644
--- a/plugins/pom.xml
+++ b/plugins/pom.xml
@@ -221,46 +221,11 @@
 
     <!-- typical layout for plugins -->
     <build>
-        <resources>
-            <resource>
-                <directory>src/main/resources</directory>
-                <filtering>true</filtering>
-                <includes>
-                    <include>**/*.properties</include>
-                </includes>
-            </resource>
-        </resources>
-
         <testResources>
-            <testResource>
-                <directory>src/test/java</directory>
-                <includes>
-                    <include>**/*.json</include>
-                    <include>**/*.txt</include>
-                </includes>
-            </testResource>
             <testResource>
                 <directory>src/test/resources</directory>
-                <excludes>
-                    <exclude>elasticsearch.yml</exclude>
-                    <exclude>**/*.properties</exclude>
-                </excludes>
-            </testResource>
-            <testResource>
-                <directory>src/test/resources</directory>
-                <filtering>true</filtering>
                 <includes>
-                    <include>elasticsearch.yml</include>
-                    <include>**/*.properties</include>
-                </includes>
-            </testResource>
-            <!-- REST API specification and test suites -->
-            <testResource>
-                <directory>${project.basedir}/rest-api-spec</directory>
-                <targetPath>rest-api-spec</targetPath>
-                <includes>
-                    <include>api/*.json</include>
-                    <include>test/**/*.yaml</include>
+                    <include>**/*</include>
                 </includes>
             </testResource>
             <!-- REST API specifications copied from main Elasticsearch specs
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/rest-api-spec/test/repository_s3/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/repository_s3/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/repository-s3/rest-api-spec/test/repository_s3/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/repository-s3/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/repository_s3/10_basic.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/rest-api-spec/test/repository_s3/20_repository.yaml b/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/repository_s3/20_repository.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/repository-s3/rest-api-spec/test/repository_s3/20_repository.yaml
rename to plugins/repository-s3/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/repository_s3/20_repository.yaml
diff --git a/plugins/site-example/rest-api-spec/test/example/10_basic.yaml b/plugins/site-example/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/example/10_basic.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/site-example/rest-api-spec/test/example/10_basic.yaml
rename to plugins/site-example/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/example/10_basic.yaml