diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Bootstrap.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Bootstrap.java
index 3ad592af635..a89bee0f4ac 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Bootstrap.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Bootstrap.java
@@ -188,8 +188,8 @@ final class Bootstrap {
         node = new Node(nodeSettings);
     }
 
-    private static Environment initialSettings(boolean daemonize, String pathHome, String pidFile) {
-        Terminal terminal = daemonize ? null : Terminal.DEFAULT;
+    private static Environment initialSettings(boolean foreground, String pathHome, String pidFile) {
+        Terminal terminal = foreground ? Terminal.DEFAULT : null;
         Settings.Builder builder = Settings.builder();
         builder.put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), pathHome);
         if (Strings.hasLength(pidFile)) {
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ final class Bootstrap {
      * to startup elasticsearch.
      */
     static void init(
-            final boolean daemonize,
+            final boolean foreground,
             final String pathHome,
             final String pidFile,
             final Map<String, String> esSettings) throws Throwable {
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ final class Bootstrap {
 
         INSTANCE = new Bootstrap();
 
-        Environment environment = initialSettings(daemonize, pathHome, pidFile);
+        Environment environment = initialSettings(foreground, pathHome, pidFile);
         Settings settings = environment.settings();
         LogConfigurator.configure(settings, true);
         checkForCustomConfFile();
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ final class Bootstrap {
         }
 
         try {
-            if (daemonize) {
+            if (!foreground) {
                 Loggers.disableConsoleLogging();
                 closeSystOut();
             }
@@ -265,12 +265,12 @@ final class Bootstrap {
 
             INSTANCE.start();
 
-            if (daemonize) {
+            if (!foreground) {
                 closeSysError();
             }
         } catch (Throwable e) {
             // disable console logging, so user does not see the exception twice (jvm will show it already)
-            if (!daemonize) {
+            if (foreground) {
                 Loggers.disableConsoleLogging();
             }
             ESLogger logger = Loggers.getLogger(Bootstrap.class);
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ final class Bootstrap {
                 logger.error("Exception", e);
             }
             // re-enable it if appropriate, so they can see any logging during the shutdown process
-            if (!daemonize) {
+            if (foreground) {
                 Loggers.enableConsoleLogging();
             }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Elasticsearch.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Elasticsearch.java
index dfe49c52e98..f492f06cd5a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Elasticsearch.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Elasticsearch.java
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ class Elasticsearch extends Command {
 
     void init(final boolean daemonize, final String pathHome, final String pidFile, final Map<String, String> esSettings) {
         try {
-            Bootstrap.init(daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings);
+            Bootstrap.init(!daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings);
         } catch (final Throwable t) {
             // format exceptions to the console in a special way
             // to avoid 2MB stacktraces from guice, etc.
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests.java
index 0d70cb8fba5..62603412a2c 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests.java
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests extends ESTestCase {
     }
 
     private void runTestVersion(int expectedStatus, Consumer<String> outputConsumer, String... args) throws Exception {
-        runTest(expectedStatus, false, outputConsumer, (daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {}, args);
+        runTest(expectedStatus, false, outputConsumer, (foreground, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {}, args);
     }
 
     public void testThatPidFileCanBeConfigured() throws Exception {
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests extends ESTestCase {
                 expectedStatus,
                 expectedInit,
                 outputConsumer,
-                (daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> assertThat(pidFile, equalTo("/tmp/pid")),
+                (foreground, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> assertThat(pidFile, equalTo("/tmp/pid")),
                 args);
     }
 
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests extends ESTestCase {
                 ExitCodes.OK,
                 true,
                 output -> {},
-                (daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> assertThat(daemonize, equalTo(expectedDaemonize)),
+                (foreground, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> assertThat(foreground, equalTo(!expectedDaemonize)),
                 args);
     }
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests extends ESTestCase {
                 ExitCodes.OK,
                 true,
                 output -> {},
-                (daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {
+                (foreground, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {
                     assertThat(esSettings.size(), equalTo(2));
                     assertThat(esSettings, hasEntry("es.foo", "bar"));
                     assertThat(esSettings, hasEntry("es.baz", "qux"));
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests extends ESTestCase {
                 ExitCodes.USAGE,
                 false,
                 output -> assertThat(output, containsString("Elasticsearch settings must be prefixed with [es.] but was [")),
-                (daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {},
+                (foreground, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {},
                 args
         );
     }
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests extends ESTestCase {
                 ExitCodes.USAGE,
                 false,
                 output -> assertThat(output, containsString("Elasticsearch setting [es.foo] must not be empty")),
-                (daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {},
+                (foreground, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {},
                 "-E", "es.foo="
         );
     }
@@ -156,12 +156,12 @@ public class ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests extends ESTestCase {
                 ExitCodes.USAGE,
                 false,
                 output -> assertThat(output, containsString("network.host is not a recognized option")),
-                (daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {},
+                (foreground, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings) -> {},
                 "--network.host");
     }
 
     private interface InitConsumer {
-        void accept(final boolean daemonize, final String pathHome, final String pidFile, final Map<String, String> esSettings);
+        void accept(final boolean foreground, final String pathHome, final String pidFile, final Map<String, String> esSettings);
     }
 
     private void runTest(
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchCommandLineParsingTests extends ESTestCase {
                 @Override
                 void init(final boolean daemonize, final String pathHome, final String pidFile, final Map<String, String> esSettings) {
                     init.set(true);
-                    initConsumer.accept(daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings);
+                    initConsumer.accept(!daemonize, pathHome, pidFile, esSettings);
                 }
             }, terminal);
             assertThat(status, equalTo(expectedStatus));