diff --git a/client/rest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClient.java b/client/rest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClient.java
index 29e23f948bd..4aa1a9d815c 100644
--- a/client/rest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClient.java
+++ b/client/rest/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/RestClient.java
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException;
 
 /**
  * Client that connects to an Elasticsearch cluster through HTTP.
@@ -717,6 +718,11 @@ public class RestClient implements Closeable {
                     e.initCause(exception);
                     throw e;
                 }
+                if (exception instanceof SSLHandshakeException) {
+                    SSLHandshakeException e = new SSLHandshakeException(exception.getMessage());
+                    e.initCause(exception);
+                    throw e;
+                }
                 if (exception instanceof IOException) {
                     throw new IOException(exception.getMessage(), exception);
                 }