diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequest.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequest.java
index 4b36970b0f2..88897d5d692 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequest.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequest.java
@@ -401,6 +401,9 @@ public class IndexRequest extends ShardReplicationOperationRequest<IndexRequest>
     }
 
     public IndexRequest source(Object... source) {
+        if (source.length % 2 != 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The number of object passed must be even but was [" + source.length + "]");
+        }
         try {
             XContentBuilder builder = XContentFactory.contentBuilder(contentType);
             builder.startObject();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequestBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequestBuilder.java
index 2a847b657fb..308f2e13a32 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequestBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/index/IndexRequestBuilder.java
@@ -204,6 +204,7 @@ public class IndexRequestBuilder extends ShardReplicationOperationRequestBuilder
 
     /**
      * Constructs a simple document with a field name and value pairs.
+     * <b>Note: the number of objects passed to this method must be and even number.</b> 
      */
     public IndexRequestBuilder setSource(Object... source) {
         request.source(source);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexRequestBuilderTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexRequestBuilderTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f9a6fb5a7b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexRequestBuilderTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to ElasticSearch and Shay Banon under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership. ElasticSearch licenses this
+ * file to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.elasticsearch.index;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequestBuilder;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesArray;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.AbstractIntegrationTest;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticSearchAssertions;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+
+public class IndexRequestBuilderTests extends AbstractIntegrationTest {
+    
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testSetSource() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {
+        createIndex("test");
+        ensureYellow();
+        Map<String, Object> map = new HashMap<String, Object>();
+        map.put("test_field", "foobar");
+        IndexRequestBuilder[] builders = new IndexRequestBuilder[] {
+                client().prepareIndex("test", "test").setSource((Object)"test_field", (Object)"foobar"),
+                client().prepareIndex("test", "test").setSource("{\"test_field\" : \"foobar\"}"),
+                client().prepareIndex("test", "test").setSource(new BytesArray("{\"test_field\" : \"foobar\"}")),
+                client().prepareIndex("test", "test").setSource(new BytesArray("{\"test_field\" : \"foobar\"}"), randomBoolean()),
+                client().prepareIndex("test", "test").setSource(new BytesArray("{\"test_field\" : \"foobar\"}").toBytes()),
+                client().prepareIndex("test", "test").setSource(map)
+        };
+        indexRandom(true, builders);
+        SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("test").setQuery(QueryBuilders.termQuery("test_field", "foobar")).get();
+        ElasticSearchAssertions.assertHitCount(searchResponse, builders.length);
+    }
+    
+    @Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
+    public void testOddNumberOfSourceObjetc() {
+        client().prepareIndex("test", "test").setSource((Object)"test_field", (Object)"foobar", new Object());
+    }
+
+}