diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/AnalyzerFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/AnalyzerFieldMapping.cs
index c5117067615..570147d17a6 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/AnalyzerFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/AnalyzerFieldMapping.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<AnalyzerFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface IAnalyzerFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("index"), JsonConverter(typeof(YesNoBoolConverter))]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/BoostFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/BoostFieldMapping.cs
index 662518e53e8..1c31381f075 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/BoostFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/BoostFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 using System;
 using System.Linq.Expressions;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<BoostFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface IBoostFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("name")]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/IdFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/IdFieldMapping.cs
index d8fffc198fb..20954a89a7f 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/IdFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/IdFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<IdFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface IIdFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("path")]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/IndexFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/IndexFieldMapping.cs
index 96b0aff643e..ed8887cb7bf 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/IndexFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/IndexFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<IndexFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface IIndexFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("enabled")]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/RoutingFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/RoutingFieldMapping.cs
index 86d6ebfbe16..f7a57769102 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/RoutingFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/RoutingFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 using System;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using System.Linq.Expressions;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<RoutingFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface IRoutingFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("required")]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/SizeFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/SizeFieldMapping.cs
index 6d212519c7e..311d77113b2 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/SizeFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/SizeFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<SizeFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface ISizeFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("enabled")]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/SourceFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/SourceFieldMapping.cs
index 1ccf555b8a4..b92dd2ae296 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/SourceFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/SourceFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<SourceFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface ISourceFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("enabled")]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TimestampFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TimestampFieldMapping.cs
index 36a7dad91fc..61be69ec563 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TimestampFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TimestampFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 using System;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using System.Linq.Expressions;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<TimestampFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface ITimestampFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("enabled")]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TtlFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TtlFieldMapping.cs
index 066466fc7c6..d814a534864 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TtlFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TtlFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<TtlFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface ITtlFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("enabled")]
diff --git a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TypeFieldMapping.cs b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TypeFieldMapping.cs
index 7368bb88ce0..eacdd1d2aba 100644
--- a/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TypeFieldMapping.cs
+++ b/src/Nest/Domain/Mapping/SpecialFields/TypeFieldMapping.cs
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
-using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Nest.Resolvers.Converters;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;
 
 namespace Nest
 {
+	[JsonConverter(typeof(ReadAsTypeConverter<TypeFieldMapping>))]
 	public interface ITypeFieldMapping : ISpecialField
 	{
 		[JsonProperty("index"), JsonConverter(typeof(StringEnumConverter))]
diff --git a/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/Core/Map/GetMappingSerializationTests.cs b/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/Core/Map/GetMappingSerializationTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2562f84b1a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/Core/Map/GetMappingSerializationTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Reflection;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Nest.Tests.Unit.Core.Map
+{
+	class GetMappingSerializationTests : BaseJsonTests
+	{
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Verify that we can serialize/deserialize a populated root mapping.
+		/// If we can round trip a full root mapping, we're in a pretty good place.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void CanDeserializeRootMapping()
+		{
+			var rootMapping = new RootObjectMapping()
+			{
+				AllFieldMapping = new AllFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Enabled = true,
+					IndexAnalyzer = "index_analyzer"
+				},
+				SourceFieldMappingDescriptor = new SourceFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Compress = false,
+					Excludes = new[] { "excluded" }
+				},
+				RoutingFieldMapping = new RoutingFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Path = "routing_path"
+				},
+				SizeFieldMapping = new SizeFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Enabled = true,
+				},
+				TtlFieldMappingDescriptor = new TtlFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Enabled = true,
+				},
+				IdFieldMappingDescriptor = new IdFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Index = "not_analyzed",
+					Store = false,
+					Path = "id_field",
+				},
+				TimestampFieldMapping = new TimestampFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Enabled = true,
+					Format = "YYY-MM-dd",
+					Path = "the_timestamp",
+				},
+				IndexFieldMapping = new IndexFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Enabled = true,
+				},
+				AnalyzerFieldMapping = new AnalyzerFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Path = "index_path",
+				},
+				BoostFieldMapping = new BoostFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Name = "boost",
+					NullValue = 2.0,
+				},
+				Parent = new ParentTypeMapping()
+				{
+					Type = "type"
+				},
+				TypeFieldMappingDescriptor = new TypeFieldMapping()
+				{
+					Index = NonStringIndexOption.NotAnalyzed, 
+					Store = false,
+				}
+			};
+			var json = TestElasticClient.Serialize(rootMapping);
+
+			var mapping = TestElasticClient.Deserialize<RootObjectMapping>(json);
+			TestElasticClient.Serialize(mapping).JsonEquals(json);
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Verify that we can serialize/deserialize an empty root mapping. One of the
+		/// failure modes of serialization/deserialization is handling data that's not there.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void CanDeserializeEmptyRootMapping()
+		{
+			var rootMapping = new RootObjectMapping()
+			{
+			};
+			var json = TestElasticClient.Serialize(rootMapping);
+
+			var mapping = TestElasticClient.Deserialize<RootObjectMapping>(json);
+			TestElasticClient.Serialize(mapping).JsonEquals(json);
+		}
+		
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/Nest.Tests.Unit.csproj b/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/Nest.Tests.Unit.csproj
index 8f6a5270cb8..43d07ca37bf 100644
--- a/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/Nest.Tests.Unit.csproj
+++ b/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/Nest.Tests.Unit.csproj
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Core\Indices\Analysis\Analyzers\AnalyzerTests.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Core\Indices\Similarity\SimilarityTests.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Core\Map\CustomMapping\ImagePluginMappingTests.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Core\Map\GetMappingSerializationTests.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Core\Map\MappingBehaviourTests.cs" />
     <None Include="Cluster\PutSettings\PutSettings.json">
       <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
@@ -1216,7 +1217,6 @@
       <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
     </None>
   </ItemGroup>
-  <ItemGroup />
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
   <Import Project="$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets" Condition="Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" />
   <!-- To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets below and uncomment it. 
diff --git a/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/TestElasticClient.cs b/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/TestElasticClient.cs
index bac1d3c572e..bb5aa463c1a 100644
--- a/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/TestElasticClient.cs
+++ b/src/Tests/Nest.Tests.Unit/TestElasticClient.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 
@@ -15,9 +16,15 @@ static TestElasticClient()
 
 			Client = new ElasticClient(Settings);
 		}
+
 		public static string Serialize<T>(T obj) where T : class
 		{
 			return Encoding.UTF8.GetString(Client.Serializer.Serialize(obj));
 		}
+
+		public static T Deserialize<T>(string json) where T : class
+		{
+			return Client.Serializer.Deserialize<T>(new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(json)));
+		}
 	}
 }