diff --git a/plugins/out_es/es.c b/plugins/out_es/es.c
index bedc336f72a..1d170ee6b24 100644
--- a/plugins/out_es/es.c
+++ b/plugins/out_es/es.c
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ static char *elasticsearch_format(void *data, size_t bytes,
     char *es_index;
     char logstash_index[256];
     char time_formatted[256];
+    char index_formatted[256];
     char es_uuid[37];
     msgpack_unpacked result;
     msgpack_object root;
@@ -191,14 +192,6 @@ static char *elasticsearch_format(void *data, size_t bytes,
         logstash_index[ctx->logstash_prefix_len] = '\0';
     }
 
-    /* If logstash format and id generation is disabled, pre-generate index line for all records. */
-    if (ctx->logstash_format == FLB_FALSE && ctx->generate_id == FLB_FALSE) {
-        index_len = snprintf(j_index,
-                             ES_BULK_HEADER,
-                             ES_BULK_INDEX_FMT,
-                             ctx->index, ctx->type);
-    }
-
     while (msgpack_unpack_next(&result, data, bytes, &off)) {
         if (result.data.type != MSGPACK_OBJECT_ARRAY) {
             continue;
@@ -210,12 +203,20 @@ static char *elasticsearch_format(void *data, size_t bytes,
             continue;
         }
 
+        /* some broken clients may have time drift up to year 1970
+         * this will generate corresponding index in Elasticsearch
+         * in order to prevent generating millions of indexes 
+         * we can set to always use current time for index generation */
+        if (ctx->current_time_index == FLB_TRUE) {
+            flb_time_get(&tms);
+        } else {
+            flb_time_pop_from_msgpack(&tms, &result, &obj);
+        }
         /*
          * Timestamp: Elasticsearch only support fractional seconds in
          * milliseconds unit, not nanoseconds, so we take our nsec value and
          * change it representation.
          */
-        flb_time_pop_from_msgpack(&tms, &result, &obj);
         tms.tm.tv_nsec = (tms.tm.tv_nsec / 1000000);
 
         map   = root.via.array.ptr[1];
@@ -247,7 +248,6 @@ static char *elasticsearch_format(void *data, size_t bytes,
         msgpack_pack_str(&tmp_pck, s);
         msgpack_pack_str_body(&tmp_pck, time_formatted, s);
 
-        es_index = ctx->index;
         if (ctx->logstash_format == FLB_TRUE) {
             /* Compose Index header */
             p = logstash_index + ctx->logstash_prefix_len;
@@ -265,6 +265,15 @@ static char *elasticsearch_format(void *data, size_t bytes,
                                      ES_BULK_INDEX_FMT,
                                      es_index, ctx->type);
             }
+        } else {
+            // make sure we handle index time format for index
+            s = strftime(index_formatted, sizeof(index_formatted) - 1,
+                    ctx->index, &tm);
+            es_index = index_formatted;
+            index_len = snprintf(j_index,
+                    ES_BULK_HEADER,
+                    ES_BULK_INDEX_FMT,
+                    es_index, ctx->type);
         }
 
         /* Tag Key */
diff --git a/plugins/out_es/es.h b/plugins/out_es/es.h
index 06d6192cef1..1bd6357a2ac 100644
--- a/plugins/out_es/es.h
+++ b/plugins/out_es/es.h
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ struct flb_elasticsearch {
     /* enabled/disabled */
     int logstash_format;
     int generate_id;
+    int current_time_index;
 
     /* prefix */
     int logstash_prefix_len;
diff --git a/plugins/out_es/es_conf.c b/plugins/out_es/es_conf.c
index 7fb52a96c0d..616eb10db93 100644
--- a/plugins/out_es/es_conf.c
+++ b/plugins/out_es/es_conf.c
@@ -253,6 +253,14 @@ struct flb_elasticsearch *flb_es_conf_create(struct flb_output_instance *ins,
         ctx->replace_dots = FLB_FALSE;
     }
 
+    /* Use current time for index generation instead of message record */
+    tmp = flb_output_get_property("current_time_index", ins);
+    if (tmp) {
+        ctx->current_time_index = bool_value(tmp);
+    } else {
+        ctx->current_time_index = FLB_FALSE;
+    }
+  
     /* Trace output */
     tmp = flb_output_get_property("Trace_Output", ins);
     if (tmp) {