diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation.java
index 4f8ed7e0..337e0776 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation.java
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ public static Descriptor getLogstashDescriptor() {
 
   @Extension
   public static final class Descriptor extends ToolDescriptor<LogstashInstallation> {
-
     private transient IndexerType type;
     private transient SyslogFormat syslogFormat;
     private transient SyslogProtocol syslogProtocol;
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch.java
index f5f1a7db..47f2be7f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch.java
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
 
+import javax.activation.MimeType;
+import javax.activation.MimeTypeParseException;
+
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 import org.kohsuke.stapler.DataBoundConstructor;
 import org.kohsuke.stapler.DataBoundSetter;
@@ -21,6 +24,7 @@ public class ElasticSearch extends LogstashIndexer<ElasticSearchDao>
   private String username;
   private Secret password;
   private URI uri;
+  private String mimeType;
 
   @DataBoundConstructor
   public ElasticSearch()
@@ -68,7 +72,16 @@ public void setPassword(String password)
   {
     this.password = Secret.fromString(password);
   }
-
+  
+  @DataBoundSetter
+  public void setMimeType(String mimeType) {
+    this.mimeType = mimeType;
+  }
+  
+  public String getMimeType() {
+    return mimeType;
+  }
+  
   @Override
   public boolean equals(Object obj)
   {
@@ -118,7 +131,9 @@ public int hashCode()
   @Override
   public ElasticSearchDao createIndexerInstance()
   {
-    return new ElasticSearchDao(getUri(), username, Secret.toString(password));
+    ElasticSearchDao esDao = new ElasticSearchDao(getUri(), username, Secret.toString(password));
+    esDao.setMimeType(getMimeType());
+    return esDao;
   }
 
   @Extension
@@ -163,5 +178,17 @@ public FormValidation doCheckUrl(@QueryParameter("value") String value)
       }
       return FormValidation.ok();
     }
+    public FormValidation doCheckMimeType(@QueryParameter("value") String value) {
+      if (StringUtils.isBlank(value)) {
+        return FormValidation.error(Messages.ValueIsRequired());
+      }
+      try {
+        //This is simply to check validity of the given mimeType
+        new MimeType(value);
+      } catch (MimeTypeParseException e) {
+        return FormValidation.error(Messages.ProvideValidMimeType());
+      }
+      return FormValidation.ok();
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDao.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDao.java
index e215989b..d96e077c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDao.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDao.java
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ public class ElasticSearchDao extends AbstractLogstashIndexerDao {
 
   private String username;
   private String password;
-
+  private String mimeType;
+  
 
   //primary constructor used by indexer factory
   public ElasticSearchDao(URI uri, String username, String password) {
@@ -111,7 +112,6 @@ public URI getUri()
   {
     return uri;
   }
-
   public String getHost()
   {
     return uri.getHost();
@@ -141,17 +141,27 @@ public String getKey()
   {
     return uri.getPath();
   }
-
+  
+  public String getMimeType() {
+    return this.mimeType;
+  }
+  
+  public void setMimeType(String mimeType) {
+    this.mimeType = mimeType;
+  }
+  
   String getAuth()
   {
     return auth;
   }
 
-  protected HttpPost getHttpPost(String data) {
-    HttpPost postRequest;
-    postRequest = new HttpPost(uri);
-    StringEntity input = new StringEntity(data, ContentType.APPLICATION_JSON);
-
+  HttpPost getHttpPost(String data) {
+    HttpPost postRequest = new HttpPost(uri);
+    String mimeType = this.getMimeType();
+    // char encoding is set to UTF_8 since this request posts a JSON string
+    StringEntity input = new StringEntity(data, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+    mimeType = (mimeType != null) ? mimeType : ContentType.APPLICATION_JSON.toString();
+    input.setContentType(mimeType);
     postRequest.setEntity(input);
     if (auth != null) {
       postRequest.addHeader("Authorization", "Basic " + auth);
diff --git a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation/global.jelly b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation/global.jelly
index 705a1d68..f0055c8a 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation/global.jelly
+++ b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation/global.jelly
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 <j:jelly xmlns:j="jelly:core" xmlns:st="jelly:stapler" xmlns:d="jelly:define" xmlns:l="/lib/layout" xmlns:t="/lib/hudson" xmlns:f="/lib/form">
-
 <!-- We need to keep this file in order to prevent that in the UI we get the option to configure a Logstash Installation -->
 <f:section title="Logstash Plugin" name="logstash">
   <f:entry>
     Logstash configuration has moved to the <a href="${rootURL}/configure">Global Configuration</a>
   </f:entry>
 </f:section>
-
 </j:jelly>
diff --git a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation/help-mimeType.html b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation/help-mimeType.html
deleted file mode 100644
index 70251a4c..00000000
--- a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashInstallation/help-mimeType.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-<div>
-  <p>
-    MIME type of the request body that is sent to ELASTICSEARCH indexer. It should be at least of the form <b>type/subtype</b><br>
-    For e.g. <i>application/json</i>
-  </p>
-</div>
diff --git a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/Messages.properties b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/Messages.properties
index f2659941..14956598 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/Messages.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/Messages.properties
@@ -24,3 +24,4 @@ DisplayName = Send console log to Logstash
 ValueIsInt = Value must be an integer
 ValueIsRequired = Value is required
 PleaseProvideHost = Please set a valid host name
+ProvideValidMimeType = Please provide a valid mime type
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch/config.jelly b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch/config.jelly
index a01fab63..fc1ec8f9 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch/config.jelly
+++ b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch/config.jelly
@@ -9,4 +9,7 @@
     <f:entry title="${%Password}" field="password">
       <f:password/>
     </f:entry>
+    <f:entry title="${%Mime Type}" field="mimeType">
+      <f:textbox default="application/json"/>
+    </f:entry>
 </j:jelly>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch/help-mimeType.html b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch/help-mimeType.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..20dba0a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/logstash/configuration/ElasticSearch/help-mimeType.html
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<div>
+  <p>
+    MIME type of the request body that is sent to ELASTICSEARCH indexer. It should be of the form <b>type/subtype</b> e.g. <i>application/json</i><br>
+    Since this is a field for MIME Type and not Content-Type we do not support additional content-type paramters like <b>charset</b> or <b>boundry</b>
+  </p>
+</div>
diff --git a/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDaoTest.java b/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDaoTest.java
index 63a02fa9..dc514341 100644
--- a/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDaoTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDaoTest.java
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ ElasticSearchDao createDao(String url, String username, String password) throws
   public void before() throws Exception {
     int port = (int) (Math.random() * 1000);
     dao = createDao("http://localhost:8200/logstash", "username", "password");
+    
     when(mockClientBuilder.build()).thenReturn(mockHttpClient);
     when(mockHttpClient.execute(any(HttpPost.class))).thenReturn(mockResponse);
     when(mockResponse.getStatusLine()).thenReturn(mockStatusLine);
@@ -195,20 +196,22 @@ public void pushFailStatusCode() throws Exception {
         e.getMessage().contains("Something bad happened.") && e.getMessage().contains("HTTP error code: 500"));
         throw e;
     }
+    
   }
   @Test
-  public void getHttpPostSuccessWithUserInput() {
+  public void getHttpPostSuccessWithUserInput() throws Exception {
     String json = "{ 'foo': 'bar' }";
-    dao = createDao("http://localhost", 8200, "/jenkins/logstash", "", "");
     String mimeType = "application/json";
-    HttpPost post = dao.getHttpPost(json, mimeType);
+    dao = createDao("http://localhost:8200/jenkins/logstash", "username", "password");
+    dao.setMimeType(mimeType);
+    HttpPost post = dao.getHttpPost(json);
     HttpEntity entity = post.getEntity();
     assertEquals("Content type do not match", mimeType, entity.getContentType().getValue());
   }
   @Test
-  public void getHttpPostWithFallbackInput() {
+  public void getHttpPostWithFallbackInput() throws Exception {
     String json = "{ 'foo': 'bar' }";
-    dao = createDao("http://localhost", 8200, "/jenkins/logstash", "", "");
+    dao = createDao("http://localhost:8200/jenkins/logstash", "username", "password");
     HttpPost post = dao.getHttpPost(json);
     HttpEntity entity = post.getEntity();
     assertEquals("Content type do not match", ContentType.APPLICATION_JSON.toString(), entity.getContentType().getValue());