diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/qa/native-multi-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/DatafeedJobsRestIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/ml/qa/native-multi-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/DatafeedJobsRestIT.java
index eca06e90344..8fc6bdeef55 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/qa/native-multi-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/DatafeedJobsRestIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/qa/native-multi-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/DatafeedJobsRestIT.java
@@ -185,9 +185,9 @@ public class DatafeedJobsRestIT extends ESRestTestCase {
         client().performRequest(createAirlineDataNested);
 
         bulk.append("{\"index\": {\"_index\": \"nested-data\", \"_id\": 1}}\n");
-        bulk.append("{\"time\":\"2016-06-01T00:00:00Z\", \"responsetime\":{\"millis\":135.22}}\n");
+        bulk.append("{\"time\":\"2016-06-01T00:00:00Z\", \"responsetime\":{\"millis\":135.22}, \"airline\":[{\"name\": \"foo\"}]}\n");
         bulk.append("{\"index\": {\"_index\": \"nested-data\", \"_id\": 2}}\n");
-        bulk.append("{\"time\":\"2016-06-01T01:59:00Z\",\"responsetime\":{\"millis\":222.0}}\n");
+        bulk.append("{\"time\":\"2016-06-01T01:59:00Z\", \"responsetime\":{\"millis\":222.00}, \"airline\":[{\"name\": \"bar\"}]}\n");
 
         // Create index with multiple docs per time interval for aggregation testing
         Request createAirlineDataAggs = new Request("PUT", "/airline-data-aggs");
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ public class DatafeedJobsRestIT extends ESRestTestCase {
             .execute();
     }
 
-    public void testLookbackOnlyWithNestedFields() throws Exception {
+    public void testLookbackonlyWithNestedFields() throws Exception {
         String jobId = "test-lookback-only-with-nested-fields";
         Request createJobRequest = new Request("PUT", MachineLearning.BASE_PATH + "anomaly_detectors/" + jobId);
         createJobRequest.setJsonEntity("{\n"
@@ -301,7 +301,8 @@ public class DatafeedJobsRestIT extends ESRestTestCase {
                 + "    \"detectors\": [\n"
                 + "      {\n"
                 + "        \"function\": \"mean\",\n"
-                + "        \"field_name\": \"responsetime.millis\"\n"
+                + "        \"field_name\": \"responsetime.millis\",\n"
+                + "        \"by_field_name\": \"airline.name\"\n"
                 + "      }\n"
                 + "    ]\n"
                 + "  },"
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/extractor/SourceField.java b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/extractor/SourceField.java
index f70e6e59c05..828c71139a5 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/extractor/SourceField.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/extractor/SourceField.java
@@ -54,6 +54,15 @@ public class SourceField extends AbstractField {
         if (nextLevel instanceof Map<?, ?>) {
             return (Map<String, Object>) source.get(key);
         }
+        if (nextLevel instanceof List<?>) {
+            List<?> asList = (List<?>) nextLevel;
+            if (asList.isEmpty() == false) {
+                Object firstElement = asList.get(0);
+                if (firstElement instanceof Map<?, ?>) {
+                    return (Map<String, Object>) firstElement;
+                }
+            }
+        }
         return null;
     }
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/extractor/SourceFieldTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/extractor/SourceFieldTests.java
index 03fed7790a3..9f86fbb800c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/extractor/SourceFieldTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/extractor/SourceFieldTests.java
@@ -67,4 +67,12 @@ public class SourceFieldTests extends ESTestCase {
 
         assertThat(nested.value(hit), equalTo(new String[] { "bar" }));
     }
+
+    public void testValueGivenNestedArray() {
+        SearchHit hit = new SearchHitBuilder(42).setSource("{\"level_1\":{\"level_2\":[{\"foo\":\"bar\"}]}}").build();
+
+        ExtractedField nested = new SourceField("level_1.level_2.foo", Collections.singleton("text"));
+
+        assertThat(nested.value(hit), equalTo(new String[] { "bar" }));
+    }
 }