diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/joda/FormatDateTimeFormatter.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/joda/FormatDateTimeFormatter.java
index 942aca7663b61..7ec2981da3c0a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/joda/FormatDateTimeFormatter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/joda/FormatDateTimeFormatter.java
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ public FormatDateTimeFormatter(String format, DateTimeFormatter parser, Locale l
     public FormatDateTimeFormatter(String format, DateTimeFormatter parser, DateTimeFormatter printer, Locale locale) {
         this.format = format;
         this.locale = locale;
-        this.printer = locale == null ? printer : printer.withLocale(locale);
-        this.parser = locale == null ? parser : parser.withLocale(locale);
+        this.printer = locale == null ? printer.withDefaultYear(1970) : printer.withLocale(locale).withDefaultYear(1970);
+        this.parser = locale == null ? parser.withDefaultYear(1970) : parser.withLocale(locale).withDefaultYear(1970);
     }
     
     public String format() {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/date/SimpleDateMappingTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/date/SimpleDateMappingTests.java
index 95dff302ce312..c2a8319f441f8 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/date/SimpleDateMappingTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/date/SimpleDateMappingTests.java
@@ -224,6 +224,30 @@ public void testHourFormat() throws Exception {
         assertThat(rangeFilter.getMin(), equalTo(new DateTime(TimeValue.timeValueHours(10).millis()).getMillis()));
     }
 
+
+    @Test
+    public void testDayWithoutYearFormat() throws Exception {
+        String mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+                .field("date_detection", false)
+                .startObject("properties").startObject("date_field").field("type", "date").field("format", "MMM dd HH:mm:ss").endObject().endObject()
+                .endObject().endObject().string();
+
+        DocumentMapper defaultMapper = mapper(mapping);
+
+        ParsedDocument doc = defaultMapper.parse("type", "1", XContentFactory.jsonBuilder()
+                .startObject()
+                .field("date_field", "Jan 02 10:00:00")
+                .endObject()
+                .bytes());
+        assertThat(((LongFieldMapper.CustomLongNumericField) doc.rootDoc().getField("date_field")).numericAsString(), equalTo(Long.toString(new DateTime(TimeValue.timeValueHours(34).millis(), DateTimeZone.UTC).getMillis())));
+
+        Filter filter = defaultMapper.mappers().smartNameFieldMapper("date_field").rangeFilter("Jan 02 10:00:00", "Jan 02 11:00:00", true, true, null);
+        assertThat(filter, instanceOf(NumericRangeFilter.class));
+        NumericRangeFilter<Long> rangeFilter = (NumericRangeFilter<Long>) filter;
+        assertThat(rangeFilter.getMax(), equalTo(new DateTime(TimeValue.timeValueHours(35).millis() + 999).getMillis())); // +999 to include the 00-01 minute
+        assertThat(rangeFilter.getMin(), equalTo(new DateTime(TimeValue.timeValueHours(34).millis()).getMillis()));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testIgnoreMalformedOption() throws Exception {
         String mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")