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 dc74fa33a98..b68be28e2f1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractFieldMapper<T> implements FieldMapper<T> {
     protected final Names names;
     protected float boost;
     protected FieldType fieldType;
-    protected final boolean docValues;
+    protected final Boolean docValues;
     protected final NamedAnalyzer indexAnalyzer;
     protected NamedAnalyzer searchAnalyzer;
     protected final SimilarityProvider similarity;
@@ -349,13 +349,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractFieldMapper<T> implements FieldMapper<T> {
         } else if (fieldDataType != null && FieldDataType.DOC_VALUES_FORMAT_VALUE.equals(fieldDataType.getFormat(indexSettings))) {
             // convoluted way to enable doc values, should be removed in the future
             this.docValues = true;
-        } else if (Version.indexCreated(indexSettings).onOrAfter(Version.V_2_0_0)) {
-            // 2.0+ index, default to true when appropriate
-            this.docValues = defaultDocValues();
         } else {
-            // old default, disable
-            this.docValues = false;
-        } 
+            this.docValues = null; // use the default
+        }
         this.multiFields = multiFields;
         this.copyTo = copyTo;
     }
@@ -380,7 +376,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractFieldMapper<T> implements FieldMapper<T> {
 
     @Override
     public final boolean hasDocValues() {
-        return docValues;
+        return docValues == null ? defaultDocValues() : docValues;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -723,9 +719,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractFieldMapper<T> implements FieldMapper<T> {
         if (includeDefaults || fieldType.stored() != defaultFieldType.stored()) {
             builder.field("store", fieldType.stored());
         }
-        if (includeDefaults || hasDocValues() != defaultDocValues()) {
-            builder.field(TypeParsers.DOC_VALUES, docValues);
-        }
+        doXContentDocValues(builder, includeDefaults);
         if (includeDefaults || fieldType.storeTermVectors() != defaultFieldType.storeTermVectors()) {
             builder.field("term_vector", termVectorOptionsToString(fieldType));
         }
@@ -778,6 +772,12 @@ public abstract class AbstractFieldMapper<T> implements FieldMapper<T> {
             }
         }
     }
+    
+    protected void doXContentDocValues(XContentBuilder builder, boolean includeDefaults) throws IOException {
+        if (includeDefaults || docValues != null) {
+            builder.field(TypeParsers.DOC_VALUES, hasDocValues());
+        }
+    }
 
     protected static String indexOptionToString(IndexOptions indexOption) {
         switch (indexOption) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/internal/TimestampFieldMapper.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/internal/TimestampFieldMapper.java
index 217b10f45ef..f8fa3984ef5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/internal/TimestampFieldMapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/internal/TimestampFieldMapper.java
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.RootMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.core.DateFieldMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.core.LongFieldMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.core.NumberFieldMapper;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.core.TypeParsers;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -328,9 +327,7 @@ public class TimestampFieldMapper extends DateFieldMapper implements InternalMap
         if (includeDefaults || fieldType.stored() != Defaults.FIELD_TYPE.stored()) {
             builder.field("store", fieldType.stored());
         }
-        if (includeDefaults || hasDocValues() != defaultDocValues()) {
-            builder.field(TypeParsers.DOC_VALUES, docValues);
-        }
+        doXContentDocValues(builder, includeDefaults);
         if (includeDefaults || path != Defaults.PATH) {
             builder.field("path", path);
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/timestamp/TimestampMappingTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/timestamp/TimestampMappingTests.java
index 5284cc3f7b1..d81168de38b 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/timestamp/TimestampMappingTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/timestamp/TimestampMappingTests.java
@@ -664,10 +664,10 @@ public class TimestampMappingTests extends ElasticsearchSingleNodeTest {
         mapping2.endObject()
                 .endObject().endObject();
 
-        testConflict(mapping1.string(), mapping2.string(), parser, (path1 == path2 ? null : "Cannot update path in _timestamp value"));
+        assertConflict(mapping1.string(), mapping2.string(), parser, (path1 == path2 ? null : "Cannot update path in _timestamp value"));
     }
 
-    void testConflict(String mapping1, String mapping2, DocumentMapperParser parser, String conflict) throws IOException {
+    void assertConflict(String mapping1, String mapping2, DocumentMapperParser parser, String conflict) throws IOException {
         DocumentMapper docMapper = parser.parse(mapping1);
         docMapper.refreshSource();
         docMapper = parser.parse(docMapper.mappingSource().string());
@@ -677,4 +677,59 @@ public class TimestampMappingTests extends ElasticsearchSingleNodeTest {
             assertThat(mergeResult.conflicts()[0], containsString(conflict));
         }
     }
+    
+    public void testDocValuesSerialization() throws Exception {
+        // default
+        String mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+            .startObject("_timestamp")
+            .endObject().endObject().endObject().string();
+        assertDocValuesSerialization(mapping);
+
+        // just format specified
+        mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+            .startObject("_timestamp")
+            .startObject("fielddata").field("format", "doc_values").endObject()
+            .endObject().endObject().endObject().string();
+        assertDocValuesSerialization(mapping);
+
+        // explicitly enabled
+        mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+            .startObject("_timestamp")
+            .field("doc_values", true)
+            .endObject().endObject().endObject().string();
+        assertDocValuesSerialization(mapping);
+
+        // explicitly disabled
+        mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+            .startObject("_timestamp")
+            .field("doc_values", false)
+            .endObject().endObject().endObject().string();
+        assertDocValuesSerialization(mapping);
+
+        // explicitly enabled, with format
+        mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+            .startObject("_timestamp")
+            .field("doc_values", true)
+            .startObject("fielddata").field("format", "doc_values").endObject()
+            .endObject().endObject().endObject().string();
+        assertDocValuesSerialization(mapping);
+
+        // explicitly disabled, with format
+        mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+            .startObject("_timestamp")
+            .field("doc_values", false)
+            .startObject("fielddata").field("format", "doc_values").endObject()
+            .endObject().endObject().endObject().string();
+        assertDocValuesSerialization(mapping);
+    }
+    
+    void assertDocValuesSerialization(String mapping) throws Exception {
+        DocumentMapperParser parser = createIndex("test_doc_values").mapperService().documentMapperParser();
+        DocumentMapper docMapper = parser.parse(mapping);
+        boolean docValues= docMapper.timestampFieldMapper().hasDocValues();
+        docMapper.refreshSource();
+        docMapper = parser.parse(docMapper.mappingSource().string());
+        assertThat(docMapper.timestampFieldMapper().hasDocValues(), equalTo(docValues));
+        assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareDelete("test_doc_values"));
+    }
 }