diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/support/InnerHitBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/support/InnerHitBuilder.java
index fc60eb72c9f..e3d26304ce1 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/support/InnerHitBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/support/InnerHitBuilder.java
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ public final class InnerHitBuilder extends ToXContentToBytes implements Writeabl
                 sorts.add(in.readSortBuilder());
             }
         }
-        highlightBuilder = in.readOptionalWriteable(HighlightBuilder.PROTOTYPE::readFrom);
+        highlightBuilder = in.readOptionalWriteable(HighlightBuilder::new);
         query = in.readQuery();
         innerHitsBuilder = in.readOptionalWriteable(InnerHitsBuilder.PROTO::readFrom);
     }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/metrics/tophits/TopHitsAggregatorBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/metrics/tophits/TopHitsAggregatorBuilder.java
index fd60fa93857..01d31ec1c24 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/metrics/tophits/TopHitsAggregatorBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/metrics/tophits/TopHitsAggregatorBuilder.java
@@ -538,9 +538,7 @@ public class TopHitsAggregatorBuilder extends AggregatorBuilder<TopHitsAggregato
             factory.fieldNames = fieldNames;
         }
         factory.from = in.readVInt();
-        if (in.readBoolean()) {
-            factory.highlightBuilder = HighlightBuilder.PROTOTYPE.readFrom(in);
-        }
+        in.readOptionalWriteable(HighlightBuilder::new);
         if (in.readBoolean()) {
             int size = in.readVInt();
             List<ScriptField> scriptFields = new ArrayList<>(size);
@@ -584,11 +582,7 @@ public class TopHitsAggregatorBuilder extends AggregatorBuilder<TopHitsAggregato
             }
         }
         out.writeVInt(from);
-        boolean hasHighlighter = highlightBuilder != null;
-        out.writeBoolean(hasHighlighter);
-        if (hasHighlighter) {
-            highlightBuilder.writeTo(out);
-        }
+        out.writeOptionalWriteable(highlightBuilder);
         boolean hasScriptFields = scriptFields != null;
         out.writeBoolean(hasScriptFields);
         if (hasScriptFields) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilder.java
index 8030181e744..f79fa638e9f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilder.java
@@ -1216,9 +1216,7 @@ public final class SearchSourceBuilder extends ToXContentToBytes implements Writ
             builder.fieldNames = fieldNames;
         }
         builder.from = in.readVInt();
-        if (in.readBoolean()) {
-            builder.highlightBuilder = HighlightBuilder.PROTOTYPE.readFrom(in);
-        }
+        builder.highlightBuilder = in.readOptionalWriteable(HighlightBuilder::new);
         boolean hasIndexBoost = in.readBoolean();
         if (hasIndexBoost) {
             int size = in.readVInt();
@@ -1320,11 +1318,7 @@ public final class SearchSourceBuilder extends ToXContentToBytes implements Writ
             }
         }
         out.writeVInt(from);
-        boolean hasHighlightBuilder = highlightBuilder != null;
-        out.writeBoolean(hasHighlightBuilder);
-        if (hasHighlightBuilder) {
-            highlightBuilder.writeTo(out);
-        }
+        out.writeOptionalWriteable(highlightBuilder);
         boolean hasIndexBoost = indexBoost != null;
         out.writeBoolean(hasIndexBoost);
         if (hasIndexBoost) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/AbstractHighlighterBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/AbstractHighlighterBuilder.java
index a74b4dabd2b..6623dbb906f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/AbstractHighlighterBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/AbstractHighlighterBuilder.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.ParseField;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.ParsingException;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.Writeable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ObjectParser;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
@@ -45,8 +46,8 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ObjectParser.fromList;
  * This abstract class holds parameters shared by {@link HighlightBuilder} and {@link HighlightBuilder.Field}
  * and provides the common setters, equality, hashCode calculation and common serialization
  */
-public abstract class AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HB extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<?>> extends ToXContentToBytes {
-
+public abstract class AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HB extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<?>> extends ToXContentToBytes
+        implements Writeable<HB> {
     public static final ParseField PRE_TAGS_FIELD = new ParseField("pre_tags");
     public static final ParseField POST_TAGS_FIELD = new ParseField("post_tags");
     public static final ParseField FIELDS_FIELD = new ParseField("fields");
@@ -100,6 +101,75 @@ public abstract class AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HB extends AbstractHighlighterB
 
     protected Boolean requireFieldMatch;
 
+    public AbstractHighlighterBuilder() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Read from a stream.
+     */
+    protected AbstractHighlighterBuilder(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
+        preTags(in.readOptionalStringArray());
+        postTags(in.readOptionalStringArray());
+        fragmentSize(in.readOptionalVInt());
+        numOfFragments(in.readOptionalVInt());
+        highlighterType(in.readOptionalString());
+        fragmenter(in.readOptionalString());
+        if (in.readBoolean()) {
+            highlightQuery(in.readQuery());
+        }
+        order(in.readOptionalWriteable(Order::readFromStream));
+        highlightFilter(in.readOptionalBoolean());
+        forceSource(in.readOptionalBoolean());
+        boundaryMaxScan(in.readOptionalVInt());
+        if (in.readBoolean()) {
+            boundaryChars(in.readString().toCharArray());
+        }
+        noMatchSize(in.readOptionalVInt());
+        phraseLimit(in.readOptionalVInt());
+        if (in.readBoolean()) {
+            options(in.readMap());
+        }
+        requireFieldMatch(in.readOptionalBoolean());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * write common parameters to {@link StreamOutput}
+     */
+    @Override
+    public final void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
+        out.writeOptionalStringArray(preTags);
+        out.writeOptionalStringArray(postTags);
+        out.writeOptionalVInt(fragmentSize);
+        out.writeOptionalVInt(numOfFragments);
+        out.writeOptionalString(highlighterType);
+        out.writeOptionalString(fragmenter);
+        boolean hasQuery = highlightQuery != null;
+        out.writeBoolean(hasQuery);
+        if (hasQuery) {
+            out.writeQuery(highlightQuery);
+        }
+        out.writeOptionalWriteable(order);
+        out.writeOptionalBoolean(highlightFilter);
+        out.writeOptionalBoolean(forceSource);
+        out.writeOptionalVInt(boundaryMaxScan);
+        boolean hasBounaryChars = boundaryChars != null;
+        out.writeBoolean(hasBounaryChars);
+        if (hasBounaryChars) {
+            out.writeString(String.valueOf(boundaryChars));
+        }
+        out.writeOptionalVInt(noMatchSize);
+        out.writeOptionalVInt(phraseLimit);
+        boolean hasOptions = options != null;
+        out.writeBoolean(hasOptions);
+        if (hasOptions) {
+            out.writeMap(options);
+        }
+        out.writeOptionalBoolean(requireFieldMatch);
+        doWriteTo(out);
+    }
+
+    protected abstract void doWriteTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException;
+
     /**
      * Set the pre tags that will be used for highlighting.
      */
@@ -535,74 +605,4 @@ public abstract class AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HB extends AbstractHighlighterB
      * fields only present in subclass should be checked for equality in the implementation
      */
     protected abstract boolean doEquals(HB other);
-
-    /**
-     * read common parameters from {@link StreamInput}
-     */
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    protected HB readOptionsFrom(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
-        preTags(in.readOptionalStringArray());
-        postTags(in.readOptionalStringArray());
-        fragmentSize(in.readOptionalVInt());
-        numOfFragments(in.readOptionalVInt());
-        highlighterType(in.readOptionalString());
-        fragmenter(in.readOptionalString());
-        if (in.readBoolean()) {
-            highlightQuery(in.readQuery());
-        }
-        if (in.readBoolean()) {
-            order(Order.PROTOTYPE.readFrom(in));
-        }
-        highlightFilter(in.readOptionalBoolean());
-        forceSource(in.readOptionalBoolean());
-        boundaryMaxScan(in.readOptionalVInt());
-        if (in.readBoolean()) {
-            boundaryChars(in.readString().toCharArray());
-        }
-        noMatchSize(in.readOptionalVInt());
-        phraseLimit(in.readOptionalVInt());
-        if (in.readBoolean()) {
-            options(in.readMap());
-        }
-        requireFieldMatch(in.readOptionalBoolean());
-        return (HB) this;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * write common parameters to {@link StreamOutput}
-     */
-    protected void writeOptionsTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
-        out.writeOptionalStringArray(preTags);
-        out.writeOptionalStringArray(postTags);
-        out.writeOptionalVInt(fragmentSize);
-        out.writeOptionalVInt(numOfFragments);
-        out.writeOptionalString(highlighterType);
-        out.writeOptionalString(fragmenter);
-        boolean hasQuery = highlightQuery != null;
-        out.writeBoolean(hasQuery);
-        if (hasQuery) {
-            out.writeQuery(highlightQuery);
-        }
-        boolean hasSetOrder = order != null;
-        out.writeBoolean(hasSetOrder);
-        if (hasSetOrder) {
-            order.writeTo(out);
-        }
-        out.writeOptionalBoolean(highlightFilter);
-        out.writeOptionalBoolean(forceSource);
-        out.writeOptionalVInt(boundaryMaxScan);
-        boolean hasBounaryChars = boundaryChars != null;
-        out.writeBoolean(hasBounaryChars);
-        if (hasBounaryChars) {
-            out.writeString(String.valueOf(boundaryChars));
-        }
-        out.writeOptionalVInt(noMatchSize);
-        out.writeOptionalVInt(phraseLimit);
-        boolean hasOptions = options != null;
-        out.writeBoolean(hasOptions);
-        if (hasOptions) {
-            out.writeMap(options);
-        }
-        out.writeOptionalBoolean(requireFieldMatch);
-    }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/HighlightBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/HighlightBuilder.java
index 1839a8d160a..5eb32863f6f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/HighlightBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/HighlightBuilder.java
@@ -60,10 +60,7 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ObjectParser.fromList;
  *
  * @see org.elasticsearch.search.builder.SearchSourceBuilder#highlight()
  */
-public class HighlightBuilder extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HighlightBuilder> implements Writeable<HighlightBuilder> {
-
-    public static final HighlightBuilder PROTOTYPE = new HighlightBuilder();
-
+public class HighlightBuilder extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HighlightBuilder> {
     /** default for whether to highlight fields based on the source even if stored separately */
     public static final boolean DEFAULT_FORCE_SOURCE = false;
     /** default for whether a field should be highlighted only if a query matches that field */
@@ -114,6 +111,32 @@ public class HighlightBuilder extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HighlightBuilde
 
     private boolean useExplicitFieldOrder = false;
 
+    public HighlightBuilder() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Read from a stream.
+     */
+    public HighlightBuilder(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
+        super(in);
+        encoder(in.readOptionalString());
+        useExplicitFieldOrder(in.readBoolean());
+        int fields = in.readVInt();
+        for (int i = 0; i < fields; i++) {
+            field(new Field(in));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void doWriteTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
+        out.writeOptionalString(encoder);
+        out.writeBoolean(useExplicitFieldOrder);
+        out.writeVInt(fields.size());
+        for (int i = 0; i < fields.size(); i++) {
+            fields.get(i).writeTo(out);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Adds a field to be highlighted with default fragment size of 100 characters, and
      * default number of fragments of 5 using the default encoder
@@ -393,32 +416,7 @@ public class HighlightBuilder extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HighlightBuilde
                 Objects.equals(fields, other.fields);
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public HighlightBuilder readFrom(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
-        HighlightBuilder highlightBuilder = new HighlightBuilder();
-        highlightBuilder.readOptionsFrom(in)
-                .encoder(in.readOptionalString())
-                .useExplicitFieldOrder(in.readBoolean());
-        int fields = in.readVInt();
-        for (int i = 0; i < fields; i++) {
-            highlightBuilder.field(Field.PROTOTYPE.readFrom(in));
-        }
-        return highlightBuilder;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
-        writeOptionsTo(out);
-        out.writeOptionalString(encoder);
-        out.writeBoolean(useExplicitFieldOrder);
-        out.writeVInt(fields.size());
-        for (int i = 0; i < fields.size(); i++) {
-            fields.get(i).writeTo(out);
-        }
-    }
-
-    public static class Field extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<Field> implements Writeable<Field> {
-        static final Field PROTOTYPE = new Field("_na_");
+    public static class Field extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<Field> {
         static final NamedObjectParser<Field, QueryParseContext> PARSER;
         static {
             ObjectParser<Field, QueryParseContext> parser = new ObjectParser<>("highlight_field");
@@ -438,6 +436,23 @@ public class HighlightBuilder extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HighlightBuilde
             this.name = name;
         }
 
+        /**
+         * Read from a stream.
+         */
+        public Field(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
+            super(in);
+            name = in.readString();
+            fragmentOffset(in.readVInt());
+            matchedFields(in.readOptionalStringArray());
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected  void doWriteTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
+            out.writeString(name);
+            out.writeVInt(fragmentOffset);
+            out.writeOptionalStringArray(matchedFields);
+        }
+
         public String name() {
             return name;
         }
@@ -483,32 +498,12 @@ public class HighlightBuilder extends AbstractHighlighterBuilder<HighlightBuilde
                     Objects.equals(fragmentOffset, other.fragmentOffset) &&
                     Arrays.equals(matchedFields, other.matchedFields);
         }
-
-        @Override
-        public Field readFrom(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
-            Field field = new Field(in.readString());
-            field.fragmentOffset(in.readVInt());
-            field.matchedFields(in.readOptionalStringArray());
-            field.readOptionsFrom(in);
-            return field;
-        }
-
-        @Override
-        public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
-            out.writeString(name);
-            out.writeVInt(fragmentOffset);
-            out.writeOptionalStringArray(matchedFields);
-            writeOptionsTo(out);
-        }
     }
 
     public enum Order implements Writeable<Order> {
         NONE, SCORE;
 
-        static Order PROTOTYPE = NONE;
-
-        @Override
-        public Order readFrom(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
+        public static Order readFromStream(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
             int ordinal = in.readVInt();
             if (ordinal < 0 || ordinal >= values().length) {
                 throw new IOException("Unknown Order ordinal [" + ordinal + "]");
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/HighlightBuilderTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/HighlightBuilderTests.java
index 1ea4212511f..9fa73cd863d 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/HighlightBuilderTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/highlight/HighlightBuilderTests.java
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ public class HighlightBuilderTests extends ESTestCase {
         try (BytesStreamOutput output = new BytesStreamOutput()) {
             original.writeTo(output);
             try (StreamInput in = new NamedWriteableAwareStreamInput(StreamInput.wrap(output.bytes()), namedWriteableRegistry)) {
-                return HighlightBuilder.PROTOTYPE.readFrom(in);
+                return new HighlightBuilder(in);
             }
         }
     }