diff --git a/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchClient.java b/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchClient.java
index 636549986..1a690bde5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchClient.java
@@ -15,25 +15,6 @@
 
 package io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch;
 
-import static io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig.FLUSH_TIMEOUT_MS_CONFIG;
-import static io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig.MAX_BUFFERED_RECORDS_CONFIG;
-
-import io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig.BehaviorOnMalformedDoc;
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.HashSet;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
-import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
-import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
-import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
-import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
-import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import org.apache.http.HttpHost;
 import org.apache.http.nio.conn.NHttpClientConnectionManager;
 import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Time;
@@ -62,6 +43,27 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+
+import io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig.BehaviorOnMalformedDoc;
+
+import static io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig.FLUSH_TIMEOUT_MS_CONFIG;
+import static io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig.MAX_BUFFERED_RECORDS_CONFIG;
+
 public class ElasticsearchClient {
 
   private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ElasticsearchClient.class);
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchSinkTask.java b/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchSinkTask.java
index 53552b3e6..8ff7aa64d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchSinkTask.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/ElasticsearchSinkTask.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 package io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch;
 
-import io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig.BehaviorOnNullValues;
+import org.apache.http.HttpHost;
 import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.OffsetAndMetadata;
 import org.apache.kafka.common.TopicPartition;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.errors.ConnectException;
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.sink.SinkRecord;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.sink.SinkTask;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.main.MainResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.RequestOptions;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.RestClient;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -31,6 +35,9 @@
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+
+import io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig.BehaviorOnNullValues;
 
 public class ElasticsearchSinkTask extends SinkTask {
 
@@ -62,7 +69,6 @@ protected void start(Map<String, String> props, ElasticsearchClient client) {
       if (context.errantRecordReporter() == null) {
         log.info("Errant record reporter not configured.");
       }
-
       // may be null if DLQ not enabled
       reporter = context.errantRecordReporter();
     } catch (NoClassDefFoundError | NoSuchMethodError e) {
@@ -72,7 +78,8 @@ protected void start(Map<String, String> props, ElasticsearchClient client) {
 
     this.client = client != null ? client : new ElasticsearchClient(config, reporter);
 
-    log.info("Started ElasticsearchSinkTask.");
+    log.info("Started ElasticsearchSinkTask. Connecting to ES server version: {}",
+        getServerVersion());
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -125,6 +132,40 @@ private void checkMapping(SinkRecord record) {
     }
   }
 
+  private String getServerVersion() {
+    ConfigCallbackHandler configCallbackHandler = new ConfigCallbackHandler(config);
+    RestHighLevelClient highLevelClient = new RestHighLevelClient(
+        RestClient
+            .builder(
+                config.connectionUrls()
+                    .stream()
+                    .map(HttpHost::create)
+                    .collect(Collectors.toList())
+                    .toArray(new HttpHost[config.connectionUrls().size()])
+            )
+            .setHttpClientConfigCallback(configCallbackHandler)
+            .setRequestConfigCallback(configCallbackHandler)
+    );
+    MainResponse response;
+    String esVersionNumber = "Unknown";
+    try {
+      response = highLevelClient.info(RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
+      esVersionNumber = response.getVersion().toString();
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      // Same error messages as from validating the connection for IOException.
+      // Insufficient privileges to validate the version number if caught
+      // ElasticsearchStatusException.
+      log.warn("Failed to get ES server version", e);
+    } finally {
+      try {
+        highLevelClient.close();
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        log.warn("Failed to close high level client", e);
+      }
+    }
+    return esVersionNumber;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns the converted index name from a given topic name. Elasticsearch accepts:
    * <ul>
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/helper/ElasticsearchHelperClient.java b/src/test/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/helper/ElasticsearchHelperClient.java
index 93939c3a3..83a006419 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/helper/ElasticsearchHelperClient.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/confluent/connect/elasticsearch/helper/ElasticsearchHelperClient.java
@@ -15,11 +15,6 @@
 
 package io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.helper;
 
-import io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ConfigCallbackHandler;
-import io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig;
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Map.Entry;
-
 import org.apache.http.HttpHost;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.delete.DeleteIndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchRequest;
@@ -42,6 +37,12 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Map.Entry;
+
+import io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ConfigCallbackHandler;
+import io.confluent.connect.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchSinkConnectorConfig;
+
 public class ElasticsearchHelperClient {
 
   private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ElasticsearchHelperClient.class);