diff --git a/docs/index.asciidoc b/docs/index.asciidoc
index 1037efe..5ed26f4 100644
--- a/docs/index.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/index.asciidoc
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ This plugin supports the following configuration options plus the <<plugins-{typ
 | <<plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-size>> |<<number,number>>|No
 | <<plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-slices>> |<<number,number>>|No
 | <<plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-ssl>> |<<boolean,boolean>>|No
+| <<plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-ssl_certificate_verification>> |<<boolean,boolean>>|No
 | <<plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-user>> |<<string,string>>|No
 |=======================================================================
 
@@ -300,6 +301,16 @@ instructions into the query.
 If enabled, SSL will be used when communicating with the Elasticsearch
 server (i.e. HTTPS will be used instead of plain HTTP).
 
+[id="plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-ssl_certificate_verification"]
+===== `ssl_certificate_verification` 
+
+  * Value type is <<boolean,boolean>>
+  * Default value is `true`
+
+Option to validate the server's certificate. Disabling this severely compromises security.
+For more information on disabling certificate verification please read
+https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~shmat/shmat_ccs12.pdf
+
 [id="plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-user"]
 ===== `user` 
 
diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/elasticsearch.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/elasticsearch.rb
index 5d24844..f46266d 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/elasticsearch.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/elasticsearch.rb
@@ -151,6 +151,9 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::Elasticsearch < LogStash::Inputs::Base
   # SSL
   config :ssl, :validate => :boolean, :default => false
 
+  # ssl_certificate_verification - Disable ssl_verification with false
+  config :ssl_certificate_verification, :validate => :boolean, :default => true
+
   # SSL Certificate Authority file in PEM encoded format, must also include any chain certificates as necessary 
   config :ca_file, :validate => :path
 
@@ -197,7 +200,8 @@ def register
     else
       @hosts
     end
-    ssl_options = { :ssl  => true, :ca_file => @ca_file } if @ssl && @ca_file
+    ssl_options = { :ssl  => true, :ca_file => @ca_file, :verify => @ssl_certificate_verification } if @ssl && @ca_file
+    ssl_options ||= { :ssl  => @ssl, :verify => @ssl_certificate_verification } if @ssl
     ssl_options ||= {}
 
     @logger.warn "Supplied proxy setting (proxy => '') has no effect" if @proxy.eql?('')