diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java
index 9160513d0d0..88f7c57a8a7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractFieldMapper<T> implements FieldMapper<T>, Mapper {
     protected float boost;
     protected final FieldType fieldType;
     protected final NamedAnalyzer indexAnalyzer;
-    protected final NamedAnalyzer searchAnalyzer;
+    protected NamedAnalyzer searchAnalyzer;
     protected PostingsFormatProvider postingsFormat;
     protected final SimilarityProvider similarity;
 
@@ -557,15 +557,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractFieldMapper<T> implements FieldMapper<T>, Mapper {
         } else if (!this.indexAnalyzer.name().equals(fieldMergeWith.indexAnalyzer.name())) {
             mergeContext.addConflict("mapper [" + names.fullName() + "] has different index_analyzer");
         }
-        if (this.searchAnalyzer == null) {
-            if (fieldMergeWith.searchAnalyzer != null) {
-                mergeContext.addConflict("mapper [" + names.fullName() + "] has different search_analyzer");
-            }
-        } else if (fieldMergeWith.searchAnalyzer == null) {
-            mergeContext.addConflict("mapper [" + names.fullName() + "] has different search_analyzer");
-        } else if (!this.searchAnalyzer.name().equals(fieldMergeWith.searchAnalyzer.name())) {
-            mergeContext.addConflict("mapper [" + names.fullName() + "] has different search_analyzer");
-        }
 
         if (this.similarity == null) {
             if (fieldMergeWith.similarity() != null) {
@@ -583,6 +574,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractFieldMapper<T> implements FieldMapper<T>, Mapper {
             if (fieldMergeWith.postingsFormat != null) {
                 this.postingsFormat = fieldMergeWith.postingsFormat;
             }
+            if (fieldMergeWith.searchAnalyzer != null) {
+                this.searchAnalyzer = fieldMergeWith.searchAnalyzer;
+            }
             if (fieldMergeWith.customFieldDataSettings != null) {
                 if (!Objects.equal(fieldMergeWith.customFieldDataSettings, this.customFieldDataSettings)) {
                     this.customFieldDataSettings = fieldMergeWith.customFieldDataSettings;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/unit/index/mapper/merge/TestMergeMapperTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/unit/index/mapper/merge/TestMergeMapperTests.java
index f866f4609a3..9da8a172926 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/unit/index/mapper/merge/TestMergeMapperTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/unit/index/mapper/merge/TestMergeMapperTests.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.test.unit.index.mapper.merge;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.analysis.NamedAnalyzer;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.DocumentMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.unit.index.mapper.MapperTests;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
@@ -83,4 +84,44 @@ public class TestMergeMapperTests {
         assertThat(mergeResult.conflicts().length, equalTo(1));
         assertThat(mergeResult.conflicts()[0], equalTo("object mapping [obj] can't be changed from nested to non-nested"));
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testMergeSearchAnalyzer() throws Exception {
+        String mapping1 = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+                .startObject("properties").startObject("field").field("type", "string").field("search_analyzer", "whitespace").endObject().endObject()
+                .endObject().endObject().string();
+        String mapping2 = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+                .startObject("properties").startObject("field").field("type", "string").field("search_analyzer", "keyword").endObject().endObject()
+                .endObject().endObject().string();
+
+        DocumentMapper existing = MapperTests.newParser().parse(mapping1);
+        DocumentMapper changed = MapperTests.newParser().parse(mapping2);
+
+        assertThat(((NamedAnalyzer) existing.mappers().name("field").mapper().searchAnalyzer()).name(), equalTo("whitespace"));
+        DocumentMapper.MergeResult mergeResult = existing.merge(changed, mergeFlags().simulate(false));
+
+        assertThat(mergeResult.hasConflicts(), equalTo(false));
+        assertThat(((NamedAnalyzer) existing.mappers().name("field").mapper().searchAnalyzer()).name(), equalTo("keyword"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNotChangeSearchAnalyzer() throws Exception {
+        String mapping1 = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+                .startObject("properties").startObject("field").field("type", "string").field("search_analyzer", "whitespace").endObject().endObject()
+                .endObject().endObject().string();
+        String mapping2 = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+                .startObject("properties").startObject("field").field("type", "string").field("postings_format", "direct").endObject().endObject()
+                .endObject().endObject().string();
+
+        DocumentMapper existing = MapperTests.newParser().parse(mapping1);
+        DocumentMapper changed = MapperTests.newParser().parse(mapping2);
+
+        assertThat(((NamedAnalyzer) existing.mappers().name("field").mapper().searchAnalyzer()).name(), equalTo("whitespace"));
+        DocumentMapper.MergeResult mergeResult = existing.merge(changed, mergeFlags().simulate(false));
+
+        assertThat(mergeResult.hasConflicts(), equalTo(false));
+        assertThat(((NamedAnalyzer) existing.mappers().name("field").mapper().searchAnalyzer()).name(), equalTo("whitespace"));
+        assertThat((existing.mappers().name("field").mapper().postingsFormatProvider()).name(), equalTo("direct"));
+    }
+
 }