diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ingest/SimulatePipelineRequest.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ingest/SimulatePipelineRequest.java
index a5818bdb0f4ec..88b7e2f38b78c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ingest/SimulatePipelineRequest.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ingest/SimulatePipelineRequest.java
@@ -186,7 +186,13 @@ private static List<IngestDocument> parseDocs(Map<String, Object> config) {
                 dataMap, Metadata.ROUTING.getFieldName());
             Long version = null;
             if (dataMap.containsKey(Metadata.VERSION.getFieldName())) {
-                version = (Long) ConfigurationUtils.readObject(null, null, dataMap, Metadata.VERSION.getFieldName());
+                String versionValue = ConfigurationUtils.readOptionalStringOrIntProperty(null, null,
+                    dataMap, Metadata.VERSION.getFieldName());
+                if (versionValue != null) {
+                    version = Long.valueOf(versionValue);
+                } else {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("[_version] cannot be null");
+                }
             }
             VersionType versionType = null;
             if (dataMap.containsKey(Metadata.VERSION_TYPE.getFieldName())) {
@@ -196,12 +202,24 @@ private static List<IngestDocument> parseDocs(Map<String, Object> config) {
             IngestDocument ingestDocument =
                 new IngestDocument(index, id, routing, version, versionType, document);
             if (dataMap.containsKey(Metadata.IF_SEQ_NO.getFieldName())) {
-                Long ifSeqNo = (Long) ConfigurationUtils.readObject(null, null, dataMap, Metadata.IF_SEQ_NO.getFieldName());
-                ingestDocument.setFieldValue(Metadata.IF_SEQ_NO.getFieldName(), ifSeqNo);
+                String ifSeqNoValue = ConfigurationUtils.readOptionalStringOrIntProperty(null, null,
+                    dataMap, Metadata.IF_SEQ_NO.getFieldName());
+                if (ifSeqNoValue != null) {
+                    Long ifSeqNo = Long.valueOf(ifSeqNoValue);
+                    ingestDocument.setFieldValue(Metadata.IF_SEQ_NO.getFieldName(), ifSeqNo);
+                } else {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("[_if_seq_no] cannot be null");
+                }
             }
             if (dataMap.containsKey(Metadata.IF_PRIMARY_TERM.getFieldName())) {
-                Long ifPrimaryTerm = (Long) ConfigurationUtils.readObject(null, null, dataMap, Metadata.IF_PRIMARY_TERM.getFieldName());
-                ingestDocument.setFieldValue(Metadata.IF_PRIMARY_TERM.getFieldName(), ifPrimaryTerm);
+                String ifPrimaryTermValue = ConfigurationUtils.readOptionalStringOrIntProperty(null, null,
+                    dataMap, Metadata.IF_PRIMARY_TERM.getFieldName());
+                if (ifPrimaryTermValue != null) {
+                    Long ifPrimaryTerm = Long.valueOf(ifPrimaryTermValue);
+                    ingestDocument.setFieldValue(Metadata.IF_PRIMARY_TERM.getFieldName(), ifPrimaryTerm);
+                } else {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("[_if_primary_term] cannot be null");
+                }
             }
             ingestDocumentList.add(ingestDocument);
         }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ingest/SimulatePipelineRequestParsingTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ingest/SimulatePipelineRequestParsingTests.java
index d02db6be0cd2f..75ff449f6882c 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ingest/SimulatePipelineRequestParsingTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ingest/SimulatePipelineRequestParsingTests.java
@@ -124,20 +124,12 @@ public void innerTestParseWithProvidedPipeline() throws Exception {
             Map<String, Object> expectedDoc = new HashMap<>();
             List<IngestDocument.Metadata> fields = Arrays.asList(INDEX, ID, ROUTING, VERSION, VERSION_TYPE, IF_SEQ_NO, IF_PRIMARY_TERM);
             for(IngestDocument.Metadata field : fields) {
-                if (field == VERSION) {
-                    Long value = randomLong();
-                    doc.put(field.getFieldName(), value);
-                    expectedDoc.put(field.getFieldName(), value);
-                } else if (field == VERSION_TYPE) {
+                if (field == VERSION_TYPE) {
                     String value = VersionType.toString(
                         randomFrom(VersionType.INTERNAL, VersionType.EXTERNAL, VersionType.EXTERNAL_GTE)
                     );
                     doc.put(field.getFieldName(), value);
                     expectedDoc.put(field.getFieldName(), value);
-                } else if (field == IF_SEQ_NO || field == IF_PRIMARY_TERM) {
-                    Long value = randomNonNegativeLong();
-                    doc.put(field.getFieldName(), value);
-                    expectedDoc.put(field.getFieldName(), value);
                 } else {
                     if (randomBoolean()) {
                         String value = randomAlphaOfLengthBetween(1, 10);