diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/get/RestGetAction.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/get/RestGetAction.java
index b2a57bf8e08..72c879398cf 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/get/RestGetAction.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/get/RestGetAction.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.client.Client;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.*;
 import org.elasticsearch.util.guice.inject.Inject;
 import org.elasticsearch.util.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.util.xcontent.XContentFactory;
 import org.elasticsearch.util.xcontent.builder.XContentBuilder;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -87,7 +88,12 @@ public class RestGetAction extends BaseRestHandler {
                         builder.field("_type", response.type());
                         builder.field("_id", response.id());
                         if (response.source() != null) {
-                            builder.rawField("_source", response.source());
+                            if (builder.contentType() == XContentFactory.xContentType(response.source())) {
+                                builder.rawField("_source", response.source());
+                            } else {
+                                builder.field("_source");
+                                builder.value(response.source());
+                            }
                         }
 
                         if (response.fields() != null && !response.fields().isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/InternalSearchHit.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/InternalSearchHit.java
index 1e17bc20bf5..ac16f7e6493 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/InternalSearchHit.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/InternalSearchHit.java
@@ -206,10 +206,10 @@ public class InternalSearchHit implements SearchHit {
         builder.field("_id", id());
         if (source() != null) {
             if (XContentFactory.xContentType(source()) == builder.contentType()) {
+                builder.rawField("_source", source());
+            } else {
                 builder.field("_source");
                 builder.value(source());
-            } else {
-                builder.rawField("_source", source());
             }
         }
         if (fields != null && !fields.isEmpty()) {