diff --git a/src/backend/elasticsearch.js b/src/backend/elasticsearch.js
index 36a7c1a4..7bcd338e 100644
--- a/src/backend/elasticsearch.js
+++ b/src/backend/elasticsearch.js
@@ -47,9 +47,33 @@ this.recline.Backend = this.recline.Backend || {};
         alert('This backend currently only supports read operations');
       }
     },
+    _normalizeQuery: function(queryObj) {
+      if (queryObj.toJSON) {
+        var out = queryObj.toJSON();
+      } else {
+        var out = _.extend({}, queryObj);
+      }
+      if (out.q != undefined && out.q.trim() === '') {
+        delete out.q;
+      }
+      if (!out.q) {
+        out.query = {
+          match_all: {}
+        }
+      } else {
+        out.query = {
+          query_string: {
+            query: out.q
+          }
+        }
+        delete out.q;
+      }
+      return out;
+    },
     query: function(model, queryObj) {
+      var queryNormalized = this._normalizeQuery(queryObj);
+      var data = {source: JSON.stringify(queryNormalized)};
       var base = this._getESUrl(model);
-      var data = _.extend({}, queryObj);
       var jqxhr = $.ajax({
         url: base + '/_search',
         data: data,
diff --git a/test/backend.elasticsearch.test.js b/test/backend.elasticsearch.test.js
index d3822c16..4fc931cb 100644
--- a/test/backend.elasticsearch.test.js
+++ b/test/backend.elasticsearch.test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,27 @@
 (function ($) {
 module("Backend ElasticSearch");
 
+test("ElasticSearch queryNormalize", function() { 
+  var backend = new recline.Backend.ElasticSearch();
+  var in_ = new recline.Model.Query();
+  in_.set({q: ''});
+  var out = backend._normalizeQuery(in_);
+  equal(out.q, undefined);
+  deepEqual(out.query.match_all, {});
+
+  var backend = new recline.Backend.ElasticSearch();
+  var in_ = new recline.Model.Query().toJSON();
+  in_.q = '';
+  var out = backend._normalizeQuery(in_);
+  equal(out.q, undefined);
+  deepEqual(out.query.match_all, {});
+
+  var in_ = new recline.Model.Query().toJSON();
+  in_.q = 'abc';
+  var out = backend._normalizeQuery(in_);
+  equal(out.query.query_string.query, 'abc');
+});
+
 var mapping_data = {
   "note": {
     "properties": {