diff --git a/lib/ES/Util.pm b/lib/ES/Util.pm
index 906d1a83d93f7..3f3a3abaacf12 100644
--- a/lib/ES/Util.pm
+++ b/lib/ES/Util.pm
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ sub build_chunked {
                 # '-a' => 'attribute-missing=warn',
                 '-a' => 'asciidoc-dir=' . $asciidoc_dir,
                 $resources ? ( '-a' => 'resources=' . join(',', @$resources)) : (),
+                '-a' => 'inline-callouts',
                 '--destination-dir=' . $dest,
                 docinfo($index),
                 $index
@@ -211,6 +212,7 @@ sub build_single {
                 $private ? () : ( '-a' => "edit_url=$edit_url" ),
                 '-a' => 'asciidoc-dir=' . $asciidoc_dir,
                 $resources ? ( '-a' => 'resources=' . join(',', @$resources)) : (),
+                '-a' => 'inline-callouts',
                 # Disable warning on missing attributes because we have
                 # missing attributes!
                 # '-a' => 'attribute-missing=warn',
diff --git a/resources/asciidoctor/lib/extensions.rb b/resources/asciidoctor/lib/extensions.rb
index b7eaa25ee5445..b579a22712ac6 100644
--- a/resources/asciidoctor/lib/extensions.rb
+++ b/resources/asciidoctor/lib/extensions.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 require_relative 'elastic_compat_preprocessor/extension'
 require_relative 'elastic_include_tagged/extension'
 
+# This extensions is special because it is evil - just loading it is enough
+require_relative 'inline_callout/extension'
+
 Extensions.register Added
 Extensions.register do
   # Enable storing the source locations so we can look at them. This is required
diff --git a/resources/asciidoctor/lib/inline_callout/extension.rb b/resources/asciidoctor/lib/inline_callout/extension.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..208d27f9d2ac7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/asciidoctor/lib/inline_callout/extension.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+require 'asciidoctor'
+
+include Asciidoctor
+
+##
+# Enables inline callouts which asciidoc supports but asciidoctor doesn't.
+# Filed as enhancement request at
+# https://github.com/asciidoctor/asciidoctor/issues/3037
+#
+# Usage
+#
+#   POST <1> /_search/scroll <2>
+#
+# NOTE: This isn't an asciidoctor extension so much as a hack. Just including
+# the file causes us to monkey patch its code into asciidoctor. By  default we
+# don't change asciidoctor, but if you set the `inline-callouts` attribute so
+# you need to *ask* for the change in behavior.
+#
+module InlineCallout
+  InlineCalloutScanRx = /\\?<!?(|--)(\d+|\.)\1>/
+  InlineCalloutSourceRx = %r(((?://|#|--|;;) ?)?(\\)?&lt;!?(|--)(\d+|\.)\3&gt;)
+  InlineCalloutSourceRxt = "(\\\\)?&lt;()(\\d+|\\.)&gt;"
+  InlineCalloutSourceRxMap = ::Hash.new {|h, k| h[k] = /(#{::Regexp.escape k} ?)?#{InlineCalloutSourceRxt}/ }
+
+  # Disable VERBOSE so we don't log any warnings. It really isn't great to
+  # have to patch these in like this but it gets the job done and we're looking
+  # to get this into Asciidoctor proper. These methods are basically the same
+  # as the methods in asciidoctor but with new regexes.
+  old_verbose = $VERBOSE
+  $VERBOSE = false
+  Parser.class_eval do
+    def self.catalog_callouts(text, document)
+      found = false
+      autonum = 0
+      callout_rx = (document.attr? 'inline-callouts') ? InlineCalloutScanRx : CalloutScanRx
+      text.scan(callout_rx) {
+        captured, num = $&, $2
+        document.callouts.register num == '.' ? (autonum += 1).to_s : num unless captured.start_with? '\\'
+        # we have to mark as found even if it's escaped so it can be unescaped
+        found = true
+      } if text.include? '<'
+      found
+    end
+  end
+
+  Substitutors.module_eval do
+    def sub_callouts(text)
+      autonum = 0
+      text.gsub(callout_rx) {
+        # honor the escape
+        if $2
+          # use sub since it might be behind a line comment
+          $&.sub(RS, '')
+        else
+          Inline.new(self, :callout, $4 == '.' ? (autonum += 1).to_s : $4, :id => @document.callouts.read_next_id, :attributes => { 'guard' => $1 }).convert
+        end
+      }
+    end
+
+    def callout_rx
+      if attr? 'line-comment'
+        ((attr? 'inline-callouts') ? InlineCalloutSourceRxMap : CalloutSourceRxMap)[attr 'line-comment']
+      else
+        (attr? 'inline-callouts') ? InlineCalloutSourceRx : CalloutSourceRx
+      end
+    end
+  end
+  $VERBOSE = old_verbose
+end
diff --git a/resources/asciidoctor/spec/inline_callout_spec.rb b/resources/asciidoctor/spec/inline_callout_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..071cae1c8202d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/asciidoctor/spec/inline_callout_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+require 'inline_callout/extension'
+
+RSpec.describe InlineCallout do
+  it "enables support for inline callouts if requested" do
+    attributes = {
+      'inline-callouts' => '',
+    }
+    input = <<~ASCIIDOC
+      ----
+      POST <1> /_search/scroll <2>
+      ----
+      <1> words
+      <2> other words
+    ASCIIDOC
+    expected = <<~DOCBOOK
+      <preface>
+      <title></title>
+      <screen>POST <co id="CO1-1"/> /_search/scroll <co id="CO1-2"/></screen>
+      <calloutlist>
+      <callout arearefs="CO1-1">
+      <para>words</para>
+      </callout>
+      <callout arearefs="CO1-2">
+      <para>other words</para>
+      </callout>
+      </calloutlist>
+      </preface>
+    DOCBOOK
+    expect(convert(input, attributes)).to eq(expected.strip)
+  end
+
+  it "does not enable support for inline callouts by default" do
+    input = <<~ASCIIDOC
+      ----
+      POST <1> /_search/scroll <2>
+      ----
+      <1> words
+      <2> other words
+    ASCIIDOC
+    expected = <<~DOCBOOK
+      <preface>
+      <title></title>
+      <screen>POST &lt;1&gt; /_search/scroll <co id="CO1-1"/></screen>
+      <calloutlist>
+      <callout arearefs="">
+      <para>words</para>
+      </callout>
+      <callout arearefs="CO1-1">
+      <para>other words</para>
+      </callout>
+      </calloutlist>
+      </preface>
+    DOCBOOK
+    actual = convert input, {}, eq('WARN: <stdin>: line 4: no callout found for <1>')
+    expect(actual).to eq(expected.strip)
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file