diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoShapeQueryBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoShapeQueryBuilder.java
index 403ed19d5cac3..31bc889cb91b8 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoShapeQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoShapeQueryBuilder.java
@@ -182,6 +182,10 @@ public String indexedShapeType() {
      * @return this
      */
     public GeoShapeQueryBuilder strategy(SpatialStrategy strategy) {
+        if (strategy != null && strategy == SpatialStrategy.TERM && relation != ShapeRelation.INTERSECTS) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("strategy [" + strategy.getStrategyName() + "] only supports relation ["
+                    + ShapeRelation.INTERSECTS.getRelationName() + "] found relation [" + relation.getRelationName() + "]");
+        }
         this.strategy = strategy;
         return this;
     }
@@ -240,6 +244,10 @@ public GeoShapeQueryBuilder relation(ShapeRelation relation) {
         if (relation == null) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("No Shape Relation defined");
         }
+        if (strategy != null && strategy == SpatialStrategy.TERM && relation != ShapeRelation.INTERSECTS) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("current strategy [" + strategy.getStrategyName() + "] only supports relation ["
+                    + ShapeRelation.INTERSECTS.getRelationName() + "] found relation [" + relation.getRelationName() + "]");
+        }
         this.relation = relation;
         return this;
     }
@@ -251,17 +259,6 @@ public ShapeRelation relation() {
         return relation;
     }
 
-    public QueryValidationException validate() {
-        QueryValidationException errors = null;
-        // TODO did we validate this before the refactoring and can we do this in setters at all?
-        if (strategy != null && strategy == SpatialStrategy.TERM && relation != ShapeRelation.INTERSECTS) {
-            errors = QueryValidationException.addValidationError(NAME,
-                    "strategy [" + strategy.getStrategyName() + "] only supports relation ["
-                    + ShapeRelation.INTERSECTS.getRelationName() + "] found relation [" + relation.getRelationName() + "]", errors);
-        }
-        return errors;
-    }
-
     @Override
     protected Query doToQuery(QueryShardContext context) throws IOException {
         ShapeBuilder shape;
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoShapeQueryBuilderTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoShapeQueryBuilderTests.java
index 66ba602417821..a4ac66c658ca3 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoShapeQueryBuilderTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/GeoShapeQueryBuilderTests.java
@@ -166,37 +166,31 @@ public void testNoIndexedShapeType() throws IOException {
         new GeoShapeQueryBuilder(GEO_SHAPE_FIELD_NAME, "id", (String) null);
     }
 
-    @Test
+    @Test(expected=IllegalArgumentException.class)
     public void testNoRelation() throws IOException {
         ShapeBuilder shape = RandomShapeGenerator.createShapeWithin(getRandom(), null);
-        try {
-            GeoShapeQueryBuilder builder = new GeoShapeQueryBuilder(GEO_SHAPE_FIELD_NAME, shape);
-            builder.relation(null);
-            fail("relation cannot be null");
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
-            // expected
-        }
+        GeoShapeQueryBuilder builder = new GeoShapeQueryBuilder(GEO_SHAPE_FIELD_NAME, shape);
+        builder.relation(null);
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void testInvalidRelation() {
+    public void testInvalidRelation() throws IOException {
         ShapeBuilder shape = RandomShapeGenerator.createShapeWithin(getRandom(), null);
+        GeoShapeQueryBuilder builder = new GeoShapeQueryBuilder(GEO_SHAPE_FIELD_NAME, shape);
         try {
-            GeoShapeQueryBuilder builder = new GeoShapeQueryBuilder(GEO_SHAPE_FIELD_NAME, shape);
             builder.strategy(SpatialStrategy.TERM);
-            ShapeRelation relation = randomFrom(ShapeRelation.DISJOINT, ShapeRelation.WITHIN);
-            builder.relation(relation);
-            QueryValidationException exception = builder.validate();
-            assertThat(exception, notNullValue());
-            assertThat(exception.validationErrors(), notNullValue());
-            assertThat(exception.validationErrors().size(), equalTo(1));
-            assertThat(
-                    exception.validationErrors().get(0),
-                    equalTo("[" + GeoShapeQueryBuilder.NAME + "] strategy [" + SpatialStrategy.TERM.getStrategyName()
-                            + "] only supports relation [" + ShapeRelation.INTERSECTS.getRelationName() + "] found relation ["
-                            + relation.getRelationName() + "]"));
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+            builder.relation(randomFrom(ShapeRelation.DISJOINT, ShapeRelation.WITHIN));
+            fail("Illegal combination of strategy and relation setting");
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            // okay
+        }
+
+        try {
+            builder.relation(randomFrom(ShapeRelation.DISJOINT, ShapeRelation.WITHIN));
+            builder.strategy(SpatialStrategy.TERM);
+            fail("Illegal combination of strategy and relation setting");
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            // okay
         }
     }