diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/BytesStreamInput.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/BytesStreamInput.java
index 45e9d71122f..5870f1788b5 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/BytesStreamInput.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/BytesStreamInput.java
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public class BytesStreamInput extends StreamInput {
     }
 
     public String readUTF() throws IOException {
-        int utflen = readUnsignedShort();
+        int utflen = readInt();
         if (utflen == 0) {
             return "";
         }
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/BytesStreamOutput.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/BytesStreamOutput.java
index 79ebed3b013..a15183e55cb 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/BytesStreamOutput.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/BytesStreamOutput.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.UTFDataFormatException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 
 /**
@@ -132,19 +131,18 @@ public class BytesStreamOutput extends StreamOutput {
             }
         }
 
-        if (utflen > 65535)
-            throw new UTFDataFormatException(
-                    "encoded string too long: " + utflen + " bytes");
-
-        int newcount = count + utflen + 2;
+        int newcount = count + utflen + 4;
         if (newcount > buf.length) {
             buf = Arrays.copyOf(buf, Math.max(buf.length << 1, newcount));
         }
 
         byte[] bytearr = this.buf;
 
-        bytearr[count++] = (byte) ((utflen >>> 8) & 0xFF);
-        bytearr[count++] = (byte) ((utflen >>> 0) & 0xFF);
+        // same as writeInt
+        bytearr[count++] = (byte) (utflen >> 24);
+        bytearr[count++] = (byte) (utflen >> 16);
+        bytearr[count++] = (byte) (utflen >> 8);
+        bytearr[count++] = (byte) (utflen);
 
         int i = 0;
         for (i = 0; i < strlen; i++) {
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamInput.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamInput.java
index 7cae19c9ba6..306842da8ce 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamInput.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamInput.java
@@ -102,18 +102,10 @@ public abstract class StreamInput extends InputStream {
         return i;
     }
 
-    protected final int readUnsignedShort() throws IOException {
-        int ch1 = read();
-        int ch2 = read();
-        if ((ch1 | ch2) < 0)
-            throw new EOFException();
-        return (ch1 << 8) + (ch2 << 0);
-    }
-
     // COPIED from DataInputStream
 
     public String readUTF() throws IOException {
-        int utflen = readUnsignedShort();
+        int utflen = readInt();
         if (utflen == 0) {
             return "";
         }
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamOutput.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamOutput.java
index 27f2354ceb1..d5ddd9043ed 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamOutput.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamOutput.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ package org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
-import java.io.UTFDataFormatException;
 
 /**
  * @author kimchy (shay.banon)
@@ -135,16 +134,15 @@ public abstract class StreamOutput extends OutputStream {
             }
         }
 
-        if (utflen > 65535)
-            throw new UTFDataFormatException(
-                    "encoded string too long: " + utflen + " bytes");
-
-        if (this.bytearr == null || (this.bytearr.length < (utflen + 2)))
-            this.bytearr = new byte[(utflen * 2) + 2];
+        if (this.bytearr == null || (this.bytearr.length < (utflen + 4)))
+            this.bytearr = new byte[(utflen * 2) + 4];
         byte[] bytearr = this.bytearr;
 
-        bytearr[count++] = (byte) ((utflen >>> 8) & 0xFF);
-        bytearr[count++] = (byte) ((utflen >>> 0) & 0xFF);
+        // same as writeInt
+        bytearr[count++] = (byte) (utflen >> 24);
+        bytearr[count++] = (byte) (utflen >> 16);
+        bytearr[count++] = (byte) (utflen >> 8);
+        bytearr[count++] = (byte) (utflen);
 
         int i = 0;
         for (i = 0; i < strlen; i++) {
@@ -167,7 +165,7 @@ public abstract class StreamOutput extends OutputStream {
                 bytearr[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 0) & 0x3F));
             }
         }
-        writeBytes(bytearr, 0, utflen + 2);
+        writeBytes(bytearr, 0, utflen + 4);
 //        return utflen + 2;
     }