diff --git a/docs/wagtail_search.rst b/docs/wagtail_search.rst
index 8fa2638015..c03f74fcf1 100644
--- a/docs/wagtail_search.rst
+++ b/docs/wagtail_search.rst
@@ -220,6 +220,30 @@ The default DB search backend uses Django's ``__icontains`` filter.
 
 Elasticsearch Backend
 `````````````````````
+Prerequisites are the Elasticsearch service itself and, via pip, the `elasticutils`_ and `pyelasticsearch`_ packages:
+
+.. code-block:: guess
+
+  pip install elasticutils pyelasticsearch
+
+NB: The dependency on pyelasticsearch is scheduled to be replaced by a dependency on `elasticsearch-py`_.
+
+The backend is configured in settings:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+  WAGTAILSEARCH_BACKENDS = {
+      'default': {
+          'BACKEND': 'wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends.elasticsearch.ElasticSearch',
+          'URL': ['http://localhost:9200'],
+          'INDEX': 'wagtail',
+          'TIMEOUT': 5,
+          'FORCE_NEW': False,
+      }
+  }
+
+Other than `BACKEND` the other keys are optional and default to the values shown. In addition any other keys are passed directly to the Elasticsearch constructor as keyword arguments (e.g. `'max_retries': 1`).
+
 If you prefer not to run an Elasticsearch server in development or production, there are many hosted services available, including `Searchly`_, who offer a free account suitable for testing and development. To use Searchly:
 
 -  Sign up for an account at `dashboard.searchly.com/users/sign\_up`_
@@ -229,6 +253,9 @@ If you prefer not to run an Elasticsearch server in development or production, t
    your local settings
 -  Run ``./manage.py update_index``
 
+.. _elasticutuils: http://elasticutils.readthedocs.org
+.. _pyelasticsearch: http://pyelasticsearch.readthedocs.org
+.. _elasticsearch-py: http://elasticsearch-py.readthedocs.org
 .. _Searchly: http://www.searchly.com/
 .. _dashboard.searchly.com/users/sign\_up: https://dashboard.searchly.com/users/sign_up
 
diff --git a/runtests.py b/runtests.py
index 1577d73b51..e3942646a4 100755
--- a/runtests.py
+++ b/runtests.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ if not settings.configured:
     if has_elasticsearch:
         WAGTAILSEARCH_BACKENDS['elasticsearch'] = {
             'BACKEND': 'wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends.elasticsearch.ElasticSearch',
+            'TIMEOUT': 10,
+            'max_retries': 1,
         }
 
     settings.configure(
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch.py
index b308add0b7..d2b58d564f 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 from django.db import models
-from django.conf import settings
 
 from elasticutils import get_es, S
 
@@ -58,12 +57,23 @@ class ElasticSearch(BaseSearch):
         super(ElasticSearch, self).__init__(params)
 
         # Get settings
-        self.es_urls = params.get('URLS', ['http://localhost:9200'])
-        self.es_index = params.get('INDEX', 'wagtail')
+        self.es_urls = params.pop('URLS', ['http://localhost:9200'])
+        self.es_index = params.pop('INDEX', 'wagtail')
+        self.es_timeout = params.pop('TIMEOUT', 5)
+        self.es_force_new = params.pop('FORCE_NEW', False)
 
         # Get ElasticSearch interface
-        self.es = get_es(urls=self.es_urls)
-        self.s = S().es(urls=self.es_urls).indexes(self.es_index)
+        # Any remaining params are passed into the ElasticSearch constructor
+        self.es = get_es(
+            urls=self.es_urls,
+            timeout=self.es_timeout,
+            force_new=self.es_force_new,
+            **params)
+        self.s = S().es(
+            urls=self.es_urls,
+            timeout=self.es_timeout,
+            force_new=self.es_force_new,
+            **params).indexes(self.es_index)
 
     def reset_index(self):
         # Delete old index