diff --git a/elastalert/__init__.py b/elastalert/__init__.py
index 55bfdb32f..38100b0eb 100644
--- a/elastalert/__init__.py
+++ b/elastalert/__init__.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def __init__(self, conf):
         """
         :arg conf: es_conn_config dictionary. Ref. :func:`~util.build_es_conn_config`
         """
-        super(ElasticSearchClient, self).__init__(host=conf['es_host'],
+        super(ElasticSearchClient, self).__init__(hosts=conf['es_host'],
                                                   port=conf['es_port'],
                                                   url_prefix=conf['es_url_prefix'],
                                                   use_ssl=conf['use_ssl'],
diff --git a/elastalert/util.py b/elastalert/util.py
index bbb0600ff..4c5cff412 100644
--- a/elastalert/util.py
+++ b/elastalert/util.py
@@ -343,8 +343,10 @@ def build_es_conn_config(conf):
     parsed_conf['es_password'] = None
     parsed_conf['aws_region'] = None
     parsed_conf['profile'] = None
-    parsed_conf['es_host'] = os.environ.get('ES_HOST', conf['es_host'])
-    parsed_conf['es_port'] = int(os.environ.get('ES_PORT', conf['es_port']))
+    es_host = os.environ.get('ES_HOST', conf['es_host'])
+    es_port = int(os.environ.get('ES_PORT', conf['es_port']))
+    parsed_conf['es_host'] = parse_host(es_host, es_port)
+    parsed_conf['es_port'] = es_port
     parsed_conf['es_url_prefix'] = ''
     parsed_conf['es_conn_timeout'] = conf.get('es_conn_timeout', 20)
     parsed_conf['send_get_body_as'] = conf.get('es_send_get_body_as', 'GET')
@@ -460,3 +462,19 @@ def should_scrolling_continue(rule_conf):
     stop_the_scroll = 0 < max_scrolling <= rule_conf.get('scrolling_cycle')
 
     return not stop_the_scroll
+
+def parse_host(host, port=9200):
+    """
+    Convet host str like "host1:port1, host2:port2" to list
+
+    :param host str: hostnames (separated with comma ) or single host name
+    :param port: default to 9200
+    :return: list of hosts
+    """
+    if "," in host:
+        host_list = host.split(",")
+        host_list = [x.strip() for x in host_list]
+        return host_list
+    else:
+        return ["{host}:{port}".format(host=host, port=port)]
+
diff --git a/tests/util_test.py b/tests/util_test.py
index 55a2f9c8f..72d2b6ab2 100644
--- a/tests/util_test.py
+++ b/tests/util_test.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import pytest
 from dateutil.parser import parse as dt
 
-from elastalert.util import add_raw_postfix
+from elastalert.util import add_raw_postfix, parse_host, build_es_conn_config
 from elastalert.util import format_index
 from elastalert.util import lookup_es_key
 from elastalert.util import parse_deadline
@@ -228,3 +228,21 @@ def test_should_scrolling_continue():
     assert should_scrolling_continue(rule_before_first_run) is True
     assert should_scrolling_continue(rule_before_max_scrolling) is True
     assert should_scrolling_continue(rule_over_max_scrolling) is False
+
+
+def test_parse_host():
+    assert parse_host("localhost", port=9200) == ["localhost:9200"]
+    assert parse_host("host1:9200, host2:9200, host3:9300") ==["host1:9200",
+                                                                        "host2:9200",
+                                                                        "host3:9300"]
+
+def test_build_cofig_for_multi():
+    assert build_es_conn_config({
+        "es_host":"localhost",
+        "es_port": 9200
+    })['es_host'] ==  ['localhost:9200']
+
+    assert build_es_conn_config({
+        "es_host": "host1:9200, host2:9200, host3:9300",
+        "es_port": 9200
+    })['es_host'] == ["host1:9200","host2:9200","host3:9300"]