diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/DocumentParser.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/DocumentParser.java
index 2f68003cc4288..403162cf7fc90 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/DocumentParser.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/DocumentParser.java
@@ -100,33 +100,36 @@ private ParsedDocument innerParseDocument(SourceToParse source) throws MapperPar
             context.reset(parser, new ParseContext.Document(), source);
 
             // will result in START_OBJECT
-            int countDownTokens = 0;
             XContentParser.Token token = parser.nextToken();
             if (token != XContentParser.Token.START_OBJECT) {
                 throw new MapperParsingException("Malformed content, must start with an object");
             }
-            boolean emptyDoc = false;
-            token = parser.nextToken();
-            if (token == XContentParser.Token.END_OBJECT) {
-                // empty doc, we can handle it...
-                emptyDoc = true;
-            } else if (token != XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
-                throw new MapperParsingException("Malformed content, after first object, either the type field or the actual properties should exist");
-            }
-
-            for (MetadataFieldMapper metadataMapper : mapping.metadataMappers) {
-                metadataMapper.preParse(context);
-            }
+            if (mapping.root.isEnabled()) {
+                boolean emptyDoc = false;
+                token = parser.nextToken();
+                if (token == XContentParser.Token.END_OBJECT) {
+                    // empty doc, we can handle it...
+                    emptyDoc = true;
+                } else if (token != XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
+                    throw new MapperParsingException("Malformed content, after first object, either the type field or the actual properties should exist");
+                }
 
-            if (!emptyDoc) {
-                Mapper update = parseObject(context, mapping.root);
-                if (update != null) {
-                    context.addDynamicMappingsUpdate(update);
+                for (MetadataFieldMapper metadataMapper : mapping.metadataMappers) {
+                    metadataMapper.preParse(context);
+                }
+                if (emptyDoc == false) {
+                    Mapper update = parseObject(context, mapping.root);
+                    if (update != null) {
+                        context.addDynamicMappingsUpdate(update);
+                    }
+                }
+                for (MetadataFieldMapper metadataMapper : mapping.metadataMappers) {
+                    metadataMapper.postParse(context);
                 }
-            }
 
-            for (int i = 0; i < countDownTokens; i++) {
-                parser.nextToken();
+            } else {
+                // entire type is disabled
+                parser.skipChildren();
             }
 
             // try to parse the next token, this should be null if the object is ended properly
@@ -135,12 +138,11 @@ private ParsedDocument innerParseDocument(SourceToParse source) throws MapperPar
                 && source.parser() == null && parser != null) {
                 // only check for end of tokens if we created the parser here
                 token = parser.nextToken();
-                assert token == null; // double check, in tests, that we didn't end parsing early
+                if (token != null) {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Malformed content, found extra data after parsing: " + token);
+                }
             }
 
-            for (MetadataFieldMapper metadataMapper : mapping.metadataMappers) {
-                metadataMapper.postParse(context);
-            }
         } catch (Throwable e) {
             // if its already a mapper parsing exception, no need to wrap it...
             if (e instanceof MapperParsingException) {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/DocumentParserTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/DocumentParserTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..454f8e814d4da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/DocumentParserTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.elasticsearch.index.mapper;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesArray;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesReference;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.json.JsonXContent;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.json.JsonXContentParser;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESSingleNodeTestCase;
+
+// TODO: make this a real unit test
+public class DocumentParserTests extends ESSingleNodeTestCase {
+
+    public void testTypeDisabled() throws Exception {
+        DocumentMapperParser mapperParser = createIndex("test").mapperService().documentMapperParser();
+        String mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type")
+            .field("enabled", false).endObject().endObject().string();
+        DocumentMapper mapper = mapperParser.parse(mapping);
+
+        BytesReference bytes = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder()
+            .startObject()
+            .field("field", "1234")
+            .endObject().bytes();
+        ParsedDocument doc = mapper.parse("test", "type", "1", bytes);
+        assertNull(doc.rootDoc().getField("field"));
+    }
+
+    public void testFieldDisabled() throws Exception {
+        DocumentMapperParser mapperParser = createIndex("test").mapperService().documentMapperParser();
+        String mapping = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("type").startObject("properties")
+            .startObject("foo").field("enabled", false).endObject()
+            .startObject("bar").field("type", "integer").endObject()
+            .endObject().endObject().endObject().string();
+        DocumentMapper mapper = mapperParser.parse(mapping);
+
+        BytesReference bytes = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder()
+            .startObject()
+            .field("foo", "1234")
+            .field("bar", 10)
+            .endObject().bytes();
+        ParsedDocument doc = mapper.parse("test", "type", "1", bytes);
+        assertNull(doc.rootDoc().getField("foo"));
+        assertNotNull(doc.rootDoc().getField("bar"));
+    }
+}