diff --git a/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog/plugins/beats/Beats2Codec.java b/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog/plugins/beats/Beats2Codec.java
index d5b7be30ea01..b3b76d78a851 100644
--- a/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog/plugins/beats/Beats2Codec.java
+++ b/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog/plugins/beats/Beats2Codec.java
@@ -49,16 +49,16 @@ public class Beats2Codec extends AbstractCodec {
     private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Beats2Codec.class);
     private static final String MAP_KEY_SEPARATOR = "_";
     private static final String BEATS_UNKNOWN = "unknown";
-    private static final String CK_BEATS_PREFIX = "beats_prefix";
+    private static final String CK_NO_BEATS_PREFIX = "no_beats_prefix";
 
     private final ObjectMapper objectMapper;
-    private final boolean useBeatPrefix;
+    private final boolean noBeatsPrefix;
 
     @Inject
     public Beats2Codec(@Assisted Configuration configuration, ObjectMapper objectMapper) {
         super(configuration);
 
-        this.useBeatPrefix = configuration.getBoolean(CK_BEATS_PREFIX, false);
+        this.noBeatsPrefix = configuration.getBoolean(CK_NO_BEATS_PREFIX, false);
         this.objectMapper = requireNonNull(objectMapper);
     }
 
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public Message decode(@Nonnull RawMessage rawMessage) {
 
     private Message parseEvent(JsonNode event) {
         final String beatsType = event.path("@metadata").path("beat").asText("beat");
-        final String rootPath = useBeatPrefix ? beatsType : "";
+        final String rootPath = noBeatsPrefix ? "" : beatsType;
         final String message = event.path("message").asText("-");
         final String timestampField = event.path("@timestamp").asText();
         final DateTime timestamp = Tools.dateTimeFromString(timestampField);
@@ -158,10 +158,10 @@ public ConfigurationRequest getRequestedConfiguration() {
             final ConfigurationRequest configurationRequest = super.getRequestedConfiguration();
 
             configurationRequest.addField(new BooleanField(
-                    CK_BEATS_PREFIX,
-                    "Add Beats type as prefix",
+                    CK_NO_BEATS_PREFIX,
+                    "Do not add Beats type as prefix",
                     false,
-                    "Use the Beats type as prefix for each field, e. g. \"filebeat_source\"."
+                    "Do not prefix each field with the Beats type, e. g. \"source\" -> \"filebeat_source\"."
             ));
 
             return configurationRequest;
diff --git a/graylog2-server/src/test/java/org/graylog/plugins/beats/Beats2CodecTest.java b/graylog2-server/src/test/java/org/graylog/plugins/beats/Beats2CodecTest.java
index fe3c22780156..d30201804c2f 100644
--- a/graylog2-server/src/test/java/org/graylog/plugins/beats/Beats2CodecTest.java
+++ b/graylog2-server/src/test/java/org/graylog/plugins/beats/Beats2CodecTest.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public class Beats2CodecTest {
 
     @Before
     public void setUp() throws Exception {
-        configuration = new Configuration(Collections.singletonMap("beats_prefix", true));
+        configuration = new Configuration(Collections.singletonMap("no_beats_prefix", false));
         codec = new Beats2Codec(configuration, objectMapper);
     }
 
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public void decodeReturnsNullIfPayloadCouldNotBeDecoded() throws Exception {
 
     @Test
     public void decodeMessagesHandlesFilebeatMessagesWithoutPrefix() throws Exception {
-        configuration = new Configuration(Collections.singletonMap("beats_prefix", false));
+        configuration = new Configuration(Collections.singletonMap("no_beats_prefix", true));
         codec = new Beats2Codec(configuration, objectMapper);
 
         final Message message = codec.decode(messageFromJson("filebeat.json"));