diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java
index 86f84866aa7c6..9da0fca03da96 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/core/AbstractFieldMapper.java
@@ -187,24 +187,32 @@ protected T store(boolean store) {
         }
 
         protected T storeTermVectors(boolean termVectors) {
-            this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectors(termVectors);
+            if (termVectors) {
+                this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectors(termVectors);
+            } // don't set it to false, it is default and might be flipped by a more specific option
             return builder;
         }
 
         protected T storeTermVectorOffsets(boolean termVectorOffsets) {
-            this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectors(termVectorOffsets);
+            if (termVectorOffsets) {
+                this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectors(termVectorOffsets);
+            }
             this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectorOffsets(termVectorOffsets);
             return builder;
         }
 
         protected T storeTermVectorPositions(boolean termVectorPositions) {
-            this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectors(termVectorPositions);
+            if (termVectorPositions) {
+                this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectors(termVectorPositions);
+            }
             this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectorPositions(termVectorPositions);
             return builder;
         }
 
         protected T storeTermVectorPayloads(boolean termVectorPayloads) {
-            this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectors(termVectorPayloads);
+            if (termVectorPayloads) {
+                this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectors(termVectorPayloads);
+            }
             this.fieldType.setStoreTermVectorPayloads(termVectorPayloads);
             return builder;
         }