diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 80ca59b81dd..030cd15eff1 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
         <elasticsearch.license.header>dev-tools/elasticsearch_license_header.txt</elasticsearch.license.header>
         <elasticsearch.license.headerDefinition>dev-tools/license_header_definition.xml</elasticsearch.license.headerDefinition>
         <license.plugin.version>2.0.0-SNAPSHOT</license.plugin.version>
+        <tests.rest>false</tests.rest> <!-- disable rest tests for now -->
         <tests.rest.blacklist>indices.get/10_basic/*allow_no_indices*,cat.count/10_basic/Test cat count output,cat.aliases/10_basic/Empty cluster,indices.segments/10_basic/no segments test,indices.clear_cache/10_basic/clear_cache test,indices.status/10_basic/Indices status test,cat.indices/10_basic/Test cat indices output,cat.recovery/10_basic/Test cat recovery output,cat.shards/10_basic/Test cat shards output,termvector/20_issue7121/*,index/10_with_id/Index with ID,indices.get_alias/20_emtpy/*,cat.segments/10_basic/Test cat segments output,indices.put_settings/10_basic/Test indices settings allow_no_indices,indices.put_settings/10_basic/Test indices settings ignore_unavailable,indices.refresh/10_basic/Indices refresh test no-match wildcard,indices.stats/10_index/Index - star*,indices.recovery/10_basic/Indices recovery test*,template/30_render_search_template/*</tests.rest.blacklist>
     </properties>