diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/IndexFieldMapper.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/IndexFieldMapper.java
index 4e6906401351d..c3693f4ded9f3 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/IndexFieldMapper.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/IndexFieldMapper.java
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.Lucene;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.Queries;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.regex.Regex;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.fielddata.IndexFieldData;
@@ -38,7 +37,6 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 
 public class IndexFieldMapper extends MetadataFieldMapper {
@@ -175,20 +173,6 @@ public Query prefixQuery(String value,
             }
         }
 
-        @Override
-        public Query regexpQuery(String value, int flags, int maxDeterminizedStates,
-                                 MultiTermQuery.RewriteMethod method, QueryShardContext context) {
-            String indexName = context.getFullyQualifiedIndex().getName();
-            Pattern pattern = Regex.compile(value, Regex.flagsToString(flags));
-
-            if (pattern.matcher(indexName).matches()) {
-                return Queries.newMatchAllQuery();
-            } else {
-                return Queries.newMatchNoDocsQuery("The index [" + context.getFullyQualifiedIndex().getName()
-                    + "] doesn't match the provided pattern [" + value + "].");
-            }
-        }
-
         @Override
         public Query wildcardQuery(String value,
                                    @Nullable MultiTermQuery.RewriteMethod method,
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/IndexFieldTypeTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/IndexFieldTypeTests.java
index 11b365ff16e2b..1b100fb0872ea 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/IndexFieldTypeTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/IndexFieldTypeTests.java
@@ -27,9 +27,12 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryShardContext;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryShardException;
 
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
+
 public class IndexFieldTypeTests extends FieldTypeTestCase {
 
     @Override
@@ -46,22 +49,23 @@ public void testPrefixQuery() {
         assertEquals(new MatchNoDocsQuery(), ft.prefixQuery("other_ind", null, createContext()));
     }
 
-    public void testRegexpQuery() {
+    public void testWildcardQuery() {
         MappedFieldType ft = createDefaultFieldType();
         ft.setName("field");
         ft.setIndexOptions(IndexOptions.DOCS);
 
-        assertEquals(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), ft.regexpQuery("ind.x", 0, 10, null, createContext()));
-        assertEquals(new MatchNoDocsQuery(), ft.regexpQuery("ind?x", 0, 10, null, createContext()));
+        assertEquals(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), ft.wildcardQuery("ind*x", null, createContext()));
+        assertEquals(new MatchNoDocsQuery(), ft.wildcardQuery("other_ind*x", null, createContext()));
     }
 
-    public void testWildcardQuery() {
+    public void testRegexpQuery() {
         MappedFieldType ft = createDefaultFieldType();
         ft.setName("field");
         ft.setIndexOptions(IndexOptions.DOCS);
 
-        assertEquals(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), ft.wildcardQuery("ind*x", null, createContext()));
-        assertEquals(new MatchNoDocsQuery(), ft.wildcardQuery("other_ind*x", null, createContext()));
+        QueryShardException e = expectThrows(QueryShardException.class, () ->
+            assertEquals(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), ft.regexpQuery("ind.x", 0, 10, null, createContext())));
+        assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("Can only use regexp queries on keyword and text fields"));
     }
 
     private QueryShardContext createContext() {