diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/common/spi/ElasticsearchClientFactory.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/common/spi/ElasticsearchClientFactory.java
index f68d477b8a9..fa40ce27940 100644
--- a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/common/spi/ElasticsearchClientFactory.java
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/common/spi/ElasticsearchClientFactory.java
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ public interface ElasticsearchClientFactory {
 	@Incubating
 	String DEFAULT_BEAN_NAME = "default";
 
+	@Incubating
+	String SIMPLE_JDK_CLIENT_BEAN_NAME = "jdk-rest-client";
+
 	ElasticsearchClientImplementor create(BeanResolver beanResolver,
 			ConfigurationPropertySource propertySource,
 			ThreadProvider threadProvider, String threadNamePrefix,
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchClient.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchClient.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fe76c888249
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchClient.java
@@ -0,0 +1,274 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.io.Reader;
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+import java.net.http.HttpHeaders;
+import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
+import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.gson.spi.JsonLogHelper;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchClientImplementor;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchRequest;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchResponse;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.util.spi.ElasticsearchClientUtils;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.logging.spi.ElasticsearchClientLog;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.logging.spi.ElasticsearchRequestLog;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.common.execution.spi.SimpleScheduledExecutor;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.common.timing.Deadline;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.environment.bean.BeanHolder;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.impl.Closer;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.impl.Futures;
+
+import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
+
+public class ClientJdkElasticsearchClient implements ElasticsearchClientImplementor {
+
+	private static final Pattern CHARSET_PATTERN =
+			Pattern.compile( "(?:;|^)\\s*charset\\s*=\\s*\"?([^\"\\s;]+)\"?", Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE );
+
+	private final BeanHolder<? extends RestJdkClient> restClientHolder;
+
+	private final SimpleScheduledExecutor timeoutExecutorService;
+
+	private final Optional<Integer> requestTimeoutMs;
+
+	private final Gson gson;
+	private final JsonLogHelper jsonLogHelper;
+
+	private final List<HttpRequestInterceptor> requestInterceptors;
+
+	ClientJdkElasticsearchClient(BeanHolder<? extends RestJdkClient> restClientHolder,
+			SimpleScheduledExecutor timeoutExecutorService,
+			Optional<Integer> requestTimeoutMs,
+			Gson gson, JsonLogHelper jsonLogHelper, List<HttpRequestInterceptor> requestInterceptors
+	) {
+		this.restClientHolder = restClientHolder;
+		this.timeoutExecutorService = timeoutExecutorService;
+		this.requestTimeoutMs = requestTimeoutMs;
+		this.gson = gson;
+		this.jsonLogHelper = jsonLogHelper;
+		this.requestInterceptors = requestInterceptors;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public CompletableFuture<ElasticsearchResponse> submit(ElasticsearchRequest request) {
+		CompletableFuture<ElasticsearchResponse> result = Futures.create( () -> send( request ) )
+				.thenApply( this::convertResponse );
+		if ( ElasticsearchRequestLog.INSTANCE.isDebugEnabled() ) {
+			long startTime = System.nanoTime();
+			result.thenAccept( response -> log( request, startTime, response ) );
+		}
+		return result;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	public <T> T unwrap(Class<T> clientClass) {
+		if ( HttpClient.class.isAssignableFrom( clientClass ) ) {
+			return (T) restClientHolder.get();
+		}
+		throw ElasticsearchClientLog.INSTANCE.clientUnwrappingWithUnknownType( clientClass, HttpClient.class );
+	}
+
+	private ElasticsearchResponse convertResponse(HttpResponse<JsonObject> response) {
+		try {
+			return new ElasticsearchResponse(
+					response.request().uri().getHost(),
+					response.statusCode(),
+					null,
+					response.body() );
+		}
+		catch (RuntimeException e) {
+			throw ElasticsearchClientLog.INSTANCE.failedToParseElasticsearchResponse( response.statusCode(),
+					null, e.getMessage(), e );
+		}
+	}
+
+	private static Charset getCharset(HttpHeaders headers) {
+		Optional<String> contentType = headers.firstValue( "Content-Type" );
+		if ( contentType.isPresent() ) {
+			var matcher = CHARSET_PATTERN.matcher( contentType.get() );
+			if ( matcher.find() ) {
+				return Charset.forName( matcher.group( 1 ) );
+			}
+		}
+		return StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
+	}
+
+	private CompletableFuture<HttpResponse<JsonObject>> send(ElasticsearchRequest elasticsearchRequest) {
+		HttpRequest request;
+		try {
+			HttpRequest.BodyPublisher entity = ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity.toEntity( gson, elasticsearchRequest );
+			request = toRequest( elasticsearchRequest, entity );
+		}
+		catch (IOException | RuntimeException e) {
+			CompletableFuture<HttpResponse<JsonObject>> completableFuture = new CompletableFuture<>();
+			completableFuture.completeExceptionally( e );
+			return completableFuture;
+		}
+
+		CompletableFuture<HttpResponse<JsonObject>> completableFuture = restClientHolder.get().sendAsync(
+				request,
+				new JsonObjectBodyHandler()
+		);
+
+		Deadline deadline = elasticsearchRequest.deadline();
+		if ( deadline == null && requestTimeoutMs.isEmpty() ) {
+			// no need to schedule a client side timeout
+			return completableFuture;
+		}
+
+		long currentTimeoutValue =
+				deadline == null ? Long.valueOf( requestTimeoutMs.get() ) : deadline.checkRemainingTimeMillis();
+
+		/*
+		 * TODO HSEARCH-3590 maybe the callback should also cancel the request?
+		 */
+		ScheduledFuture<?> timeout = timeoutExecutorService.schedule(
+				() -> {
+					if ( !completableFuture.isDone() ) {
+						RuntimeException cause = ElasticsearchClientLog.INSTANCE.requestTimedOut(
+								Duration.ofNanos( TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos( currentTimeoutValue ) ),
+								elasticsearchRequest );
+						completableFuture.completeExceptionally(
+								deadline != null ? deadline.forceTimeoutAndCreateException( cause ) : cause
+						);
+					}
+				},
+				currentTimeoutValue, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS
+		);
+		completableFuture.thenRun( () -> timeout.cancel( false ) );
+
+		return completableFuture;
+	}
+
+	private HttpRequest toRequest(ElasticsearchRequest elasticsearchRequest, HttpRequest.BodyPublisher bodyPublisher)
+			throws IOException {
+		URI uri = toUri( elasticsearchRequest );
+		HttpRequest.Builder request = HttpRequest.newBuilder( uri )
+				.method( elasticsearchRequest.method(), bodyPublisher );
+		setPerRequestSocketTimeout( elasticsearchRequest, request );
+		if ( !ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity.isNoBodyPublisher( bodyPublisher ) ) {
+			request.header( "Content-Type", "application/json" );
+		}
+
+		HttpRequestInterceptorContext context = new HttpRequestInterceptorContext( elasticsearchRequest.method() );
+		for ( HttpRequestInterceptor requestInterceptor : requestInterceptors ) {
+			requestInterceptor.process( request, bodyPublisher, context );
+		}
+
+		return request.build();
+	}
+
+	private URI toUri(ElasticsearchRequest elasticsearchRequest) {
+		return restClientHolder.get().nextNode().createRequestURI( elasticsearchRequest.path(),
+				elasticsearchRequest.parameters() );
+	}
+
+	private void setPerRequestSocketTimeout(ElasticsearchRequest elasticsearchRequest, HttpRequest.Builder request) {
+		Deadline deadline = elasticsearchRequest.deadline();
+		if ( deadline == null ) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		long timeToHardTimeout = deadline.checkRemainingTimeMillis();
+
+		// set a per-request socket timeout
+		int generalRequestTimeoutMs = ( timeToHardTimeout <= Integer.MAX_VALUE ) ? Math.toIntExact( timeToHardTimeout ) : -1;
+		request.timeout( Duration.of( generalRequestTimeoutMs, ChronoUnit.MILLIS ) );
+	}
+
+	private void log(ElasticsearchRequest request, long start, ElasticsearchResponse response) {
+		boolean successCode = ElasticsearchClientUtils.isSuccessCode( response.statusCode() );
+		if ( !ElasticsearchRequestLog.INSTANCE.isTraceEnabled() && successCode ) {
+			return;
+		}
+		long executionTimeNs = System.nanoTime() - start;
+		long executionTimeMs = TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis( executionTimeNs );
+		if ( successCode ) {
+			ElasticsearchRequestLog.INSTANCE.executedRequest( request.method(), response.hostAndPort(), request.path(),
+					request.parameters(),
+					request.bodyParts().size(), executionTimeMs,
+					response.statusCode(), response.statusMessage(),
+					jsonLogHelper.toString( request.bodyParts() ),
+					jsonLogHelper.toString( response.body() ) );
+		}
+		else {
+			ElasticsearchRequestLog.INSTANCE.executedRequestWithFailure( request.method(), response.hostAndPort(),
+					request.path(),
+					request.parameters(),
+					request.bodyParts().size(), executionTimeMs,
+					response.statusCode(), response.statusMessage(),
+					jsonLogHelper.toString( request.bodyParts() ),
+					jsonLogHelper.toString( response.body() ) );
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void close() {
+		try ( Closer<IOException> closer = new Closer<>() ) {
+			/*
+			 * There's no point waiting for timeouts: we'll just expect the RestClient to cancel all
+			 * currently running requests when closing.
+			 */
+			// The BeanHolder is responsible for calling close() on the client if necessary.
+			closer.push( BeanHolder::close, this.restClientHolder );
+		}
+		catch (RuntimeException | IOException e) {
+			throw ElasticsearchClientLog.INSTANCE.unableToShutdownClient( e.getMessage(), e );
+		}
+	}
+
+	private class GsonJsonMapper implements Function<InputStream, JsonObject> {
+		private final Charset charset;
+		private final int statusCode;
+
+		public GsonJsonMapper(Charset charset, int statusCode) {
+			this.charset = charset;
+			this.statusCode = statusCode;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public JsonObject apply(InputStream inputStream) {
+			try ( inputStream; Reader reader = new InputStreamReader( inputStream, charset ) ) {
+				return gson.fromJson( reader, JsonObject.class );
+			}
+			catch (IOException e) {
+				throw ElasticsearchClientLog.INSTANCE.failedToParseElasticsearchResponse( statusCode, null, e.getMessage(), e );
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	private class JsonObjectBodyHandler implements HttpResponse.BodyHandler<JsonObject> {
+
+		@Override
+		public HttpResponse.BodySubscriber<JsonObject> apply(HttpResponse.ResponseInfo responseInfo) {
+			Charset charset = getCharset( responseInfo.headers() );
+
+			return HttpResponse.BodySubscribers.mapping(
+					HttpResponse.BodySubscribers.ofInputStream(),
+					new GsonJsonMapper( charset, responseInfo.statusCode() )
+			);
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchClientFactory.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchClientFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..16ad0901afc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchClientFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,257 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+import java.net.Authenticator;
+import java.net.PasswordAuthentication;
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+import java.security.KeyManagementException;
+import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
+import java.security.SecureRandom;
+import java.security.cert.X509Certificate;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLContext;
+import javax.net.ssl.TrustManager;
+import javax.net.ssl.X509TrustManager;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.cfg.ElasticsearchBackendSettings;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.gson.spi.GsonProvider;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchClientFactory;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchClientImplementor;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchRequestInterceptor;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorProvider;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.cfg.ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.cfg.spi.ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSpiSettings;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.logging.spi.ConfigurationLog;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.cfg.ConfigurationPropertySource;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.cfg.spi.ConfigurationProperty;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.cfg.spi.OptionalConfigurationProperty;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.common.execution.spi.SimpleScheduledExecutor;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.environment.bean.BeanHolder;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.environment.bean.BeanReference;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.environment.bean.BeanResolver;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.environment.thread.spi.ThreadProvider;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.impl.SuppressingCloser;
+
+
+public class ClientJdkElasticsearchClientFactory implements ElasticsearchClientFactory {
+
+	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<BeanReference<? extends HttpClient>> CLIENT_INSTANCE =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSpiSettings.CLIENT_INSTANCE )
+					.asBeanReference( HttpClient.class )
+					.build();
+
+	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<List<String>> HOSTS =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ElasticsearchBackendSettings.HOSTS )
+					.asString().multivalued()
+					.build();
+
+	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<String> PROTOCOL =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ElasticsearchBackendSettings.PROTOCOL )
+					.asString()
+					.build();
+
+	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<List<String>> URIS =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ElasticsearchBackendSettings.URIS )
+					.asString().multivalued()
+					.build();
+
+	private static final ConfigurationProperty<String> PATH_PREFIX =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ElasticsearchBackendSettings.PATH_PREFIX )
+					.asString()
+					.withDefault( ElasticsearchBackendSettings.Defaults.PATH_PREFIX )
+					.build();
+
+	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<String> USERNAME =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ElasticsearchBackendSettings.USERNAME )
+					.asString()
+					.build();
+
+	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<String> PASSWORD =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ElasticsearchBackendSettings.PASSWORD )
+					.asString()
+					.build();
+
+	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<Integer> REQUEST_TIMEOUT =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings.REQUEST_TIMEOUT )
+					.asIntegerStrictlyPositive()
+					.build();
+
+	private static final ConfigurationProperty<Integer> CONNECTION_TIMEOUT =
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings.CONNECTION_TIMEOUT )
+					.asIntegerPositiveOrZeroOrNegative()
+					.withDefault( ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings.Defaults.CONNECTION_TIMEOUT )
+					.build();
+
+	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<
+			BeanReference<? extends ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer>> CLIENT_CONFIGURER =
+					ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings.CLIENT_CONFIGURER )
+							.asBeanReference( ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer.class )
+							.build();
+
+	@Override
+	public ElasticsearchClientImplementor create(BeanResolver beanResolver, ConfigurationPropertySource propertySource,
+			ThreadProvider threadProvider, String threadNamePrefix,
+			SimpleScheduledExecutor timeoutExecutorService,
+			GsonProvider gsonProvider) {
+		Optional<Integer> requestTimeoutMs = REQUEST_TIMEOUT.get( propertySource );
+
+		NodeProvider nodeProvider = NodeProvider.fromOptionalStrings( PROTOCOL.get( propertySource ),
+				HOSTS.get( propertySource ), URIS.get( propertySource ), PATH_PREFIX.get( propertySource ) );
+		BeanHolder<? extends RestJdkClient> restClientHolder =
+				createClient( beanResolver, propertySource, threadProvider, threadNamePrefix, nodeProvider );
+
+		return new ClientJdkElasticsearchClient(
+				restClientHolder, timeoutExecutorService, requestTimeoutMs,
+				gsonProvider.getGson(), gsonProvider.getLogHelper(),
+				createRequestInterceptors( beanResolver, propertySource )
+		);
+	}
+
+	private static List<HttpRequestInterceptor> createRequestInterceptors(BeanResolver beanResolver,
+			ConfigurationPropertySource propertySource) {
+		List<HttpRequestInterceptor> interceptors = new ArrayList<>();
+		List<BeanReference<ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorProvider>> requestInterceptorProviderReferences =
+				beanResolver.allConfiguredForRole( ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorProvider.class );
+		try ( BeanHolder<List<ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorProvider>> requestInterceptorProvidersHodler =
+				beanResolver.resolve( requestInterceptorProviderReferences ) ) {
+			ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext clientConfigurationContext =
+					new ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext( beanResolver, propertySource, null );
+			for ( ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorProvider interceptorProvider : requestInterceptorProvidersHodler.get() ) {
+				Optional<ElasticsearchRequestInterceptor> requestInterceptor =
+						interceptorProvider.provide( clientConfigurationContext );
+				if ( requestInterceptor.isPresent() ) {
+					interceptors.add( new ClientJdkHttpRequestInterceptor( requestInterceptor.get() ) );
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return interceptors;
+	}
+
+	private BeanHolder<? extends RestJdkClient> createClient(BeanResolver beanResolver,
+			ConfigurationPropertySource propertySource,
+			ThreadProvider threadProvider, String threadNamePrefix, NodeProvider nodeProvider) {
+		Optional<BeanHolder<? extends HttpClient>> providedHttpClientHolder = CLIENT_INSTANCE.getAndMap(
+				propertySource, beanResolver::resolve );
+		if ( providedHttpClientHolder.isPresent() ) {
+			return BeanHolder.ofCloseable( new RestJdkClient( nodeProvider, providedHttpClientHolder.get().get() ) );
+		}
+
+		HttpClient.Builder builder = HttpClient.newBuilder()
+				// NOTE: ES does not work ok with HTTP 2 if we don't send the content length and that can happen so let's stick to 1.1 for now ?
+				//   (we end up with Caused by: java.io.IOException: Received RST_STREAM: Stream cancelled)
+				.version( HttpClient.Version.HTTP_1_1 );
+
+		Optional<? extends BeanHolder<? extends ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer>> customConfig = CLIENT_CONFIGURER
+				.getAndMap( propertySource, beanResolver::resolve );
+
+		RestJdkClient client = null;
+		List<BeanReference<ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer>> httpClientConfigurerReferences =
+				beanResolver.allConfiguredForRole( ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer.class );
+		try ( BeanHolder<List<ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer>> httpClientConfigurersHolder =
+				beanResolver.resolve( httpClientConfigurerReferences ) ) {
+			customizeHttpClientConfig(
+					builder,
+					beanResolver, propertySource,
+					threadProvider, threadNamePrefix,
+					nodeProvider, httpClientConfigurersHolder.get(),
+					customConfig
+			);
+			client = new RestJdkClient( nodeProvider, builder.build() );
+			return BeanHolder.ofCloseable( client );
+		}
+		catch (RuntimeException e) {
+			new SuppressingCloser( e )
+					.push( client );
+			throw e;
+		}
+		finally {
+			if ( customConfig.isPresent() ) {
+				// Assuming that #customizeHttpClientConfig has been already executed
+				// and therefore the bean has been already used.
+				customConfig.get().close();
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	private HttpClient.Builder customizeHttpClientConfig(HttpClient.Builder builder,
+			BeanResolver beanResolver, ConfigurationPropertySource propertySource,
+			ThreadProvider threadProvider, String threadNamePrefix,
+			NodeProvider nodeProvider, Iterable<ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer> configurers,
+			Optional<? extends BeanHolder<? extends ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer>> customConfig) {
+		builder.executor( Executors.newCachedThreadPool(
+				threadProvider.createThreadFactory( threadNamePrefix + " - Transport thread" ) ) );
+
+		if ( !nodeProvider.isSslEnabled() ) {
+			SSLContext sslContext = null;
+			try {
+				sslContext = SSLContext.getInstance( "TLS" );
+				sslContext.init( null, TRUST_ALL_CERTS, new SecureRandom() );
+				builder.sslContext( sslContext );
+			}
+			catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException | KeyManagementException e) {
+				throw new RuntimeException( e );
+			}
+		}
+
+		builder.connectTimeout( Duration.ofMillis( CONNECTION_TIMEOUT.get( propertySource ) ) );
+
+
+		Optional<String> username = USERNAME.get( propertySource );
+		if ( username.isPresent() ) {
+			Optional<char[]> password = PASSWORD.get( propertySource ).map( String::toCharArray );
+			if ( password.isPresent() && !nodeProvider.isSslEnabled() ) {
+				ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.usingPasswordOverHttp();
+			}
+			builder.authenticator( new Authenticator() {
+				private final PasswordAuthentication passwordAuthentication =
+						new PasswordAuthentication( username.get(), password.orElseGet( () -> new char[0] ) );
+
+				@Override
+				protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
+					return passwordAuthentication;
+				}
+			} );
+		}
+
+		ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext clientConfigurationContext =
+				new ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext( beanResolver, propertySource, builder );
+
+		for ( ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer configurer : configurers ) {
+			configurer.configure( clientConfigurationContext );
+		}
+		if ( customConfig.isPresent() ) {
+			BeanHolder<? extends ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer> customConfigBeanHolder = customConfig.get();
+			customConfigBeanHolder.get().configure( clientConfigurationContext );
+		}
+
+		return builder;
+	}
+
+	private static final TrustManager[] TRUST_ALL_CERTS = new TrustManager[] {
+			new X509TrustManager() {
+
+				private static final X509Certificate[] X_509_CERTIFICATES = new X509Certificate[0];
+
+				public X509Certificate[] getAcceptedIssuers() {
+					return X_509_CERTIFICATES;
+				}
+
+				public void checkClientTrusted(X509Certificate[] certs, String authType) {
+					// Do nothing: trust client certificates
+				}
+
+				public void checkServerTrusted(X509Certificate[] certs, String authType) {
+					// Do nothing: trust server certificates
+				}
+			}
+	};
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..931441d0217
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorProviderContext;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.cfg.ConfigurationPropertySource;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.environment.bean.BeanResolver;
+
+final class ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext
+		implements ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext, ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorProviderContext {
+	private final BeanResolver beanResolver;
+	private final ConfigurationPropertySource configurationPropertySource;
+	private final HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder;
+
+	ClientJdkElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext(
+			BeanResolver beanResolver,
+			ConfigurationPropertySource configurationPropertySource,
+			HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder) {
+		this.beanResolver = beanResolver;
+		this.configurationPropertySource = configurationPropertySource;
+		this.clientBuilder = clientBuilder;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public BeanResolver beanResolver() {
+		return beanResolver;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public ConfigurationPropertySource configurationPropertySource() {
+		return configurationPropertySource;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder() {
+		return clientBuilder;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b7b59be0fff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.Flow;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.gson.entity.spi.GsonHttpEntityContentProvider;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchRequest;
+
+import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
+
+public class ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity extends GsonHttpEntityContentProvider implements HttpRequest.BodyPublisher {
+
+	private static final HttpRequest.BodyPublisher NO_BODY_PUBLISHER = HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.noBody();
+
+	public static HttpRequest.BodyPublisher toEntity(Gson gson, ElasticsearchRequest request) throws IOException {
+		final List<JsonObject> bodyParts = request.bodyParts();
+		if ( bodyParts.isEmpty() ) {
+			return NO_BODY_PUBLISHER;
+		}
+		return new ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity( gson, bodyParts );
+	}
+
+	private final HttpRequest.BodyPublisher delegate;
+
+	public ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity(Gson gson, List<JsonObject> bodyParts) throws IOException {
+		super( gson, bodyParts );
+		delegate = HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofInputStream( this::getContent );
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public long contentLength() {
+		return getContentLength();
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void subscribe(Flow.Subscriber<? super ByteBuffer> subscriber) {
+		delegate.subscribe( subscriber );
+	}
+
+	static boolean isNoBodyPublisher(HttpRequest.BodyPublisher bodyPublisher) {
+		return bodyPublisher == NO_BODY_PUBLISHER || bodyPublisher.contentLength() == 0;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkHttpRequestInterceptor.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkHttpRequestInterceptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e6bf3d47e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ClientJdkHttpRequestInterceptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.net.URLDecoder;
+import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchRequestInterceptor;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.common.spi.ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorContext;
+
+
+record ClientJdkHttpRequestInterceptor(ElasticsearchRequestInterceptor elasticsearchRequestInterceptor)
+		implements HttpRequestInterceptor {
+
+	// https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/25/docs/api/java.net.http/module-summary.html
+	//
+	// Host header is one of the restricted ^ so we skip it here:
+	private static final Set<String> HEADERS_TO_IGNORE = Set.of( "host" );
+
+	@Override
+	public void process(HttpRequest.Builder request, HttpRequest.BodyPublisher bodyPublisher,
+			HttpRequestInterceptorContext context)
+			throws IOException {
+		elasticsearchRequestInterceptor.intercept(
+				new ClientJavaRequestContext( request.copy().build(), request, bodyPublisher, context )
+		);
+	}
+
+	private record ClientJavaRequestContext(HttpRequest request, HttpRequest.Builder original,
+											HttpRequest.BodyPublisher bodyPublisher, HttpRequestInterceptorContext context)
+			implements ElasticsearchRequestInterceptorContext {
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean hasContent() {
+			return !ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity.isNoBodyPublisher( bodyPublisher );
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public InputStream content() {
+			if ( bodyPublisher instanceof ClientJdkGsonHttpEntity publisher ) {
+				return publisher.getContent();
+			}
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String scheme() {
+			return request.uri().getScheme();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String host() {
+			return request.uri().getHost();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public Integer port() {
+			return request.uri().getPort();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String method() {
+			return context().method();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String path() {
+			return request.uri().getPath();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public Map<String, String> queryParameters() {
+			String query = request.uri().getQuery();
+			if ( query == null || query.isEmpty() ) {
+				return Map.of();
+			}
+
+			Map<String, String> map = new HashMap<>();
+
+			String[] params = query.split( "&" );
+
+			for ( String param : params ) {
+				String[] pair = param.split( "=", 2 );
+
+				if ( pair.length == 2 ) {
+					map.put(
+							URLDecoder.decode( pair[0], StandardCharsets.UTF_8 ),
+							URLDecoder.decode( pair[1], StandardCharsets.UTF_8 )
+					);
+				}
+				else {
+					map.put( URLDecoder.decode( pair[0], StandardCharsets.UTF_8 ), "" );
+				}
+			}
+
+			return map;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public void overrideHeaders(Map<String, List<String>> headers) {
+			for ( Map.Entry<String, List<String>> header : headers.entrySet() ) {
+				String name = header.getKey();
+				// To prevent java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: restricted header name: "Header-name"
+				if ( HEADERS_TO_IGNORE.contains( name.toLowerCase( Locale.ROOT ) ) ) {
+					continue;
+				}
+				boolean first = true;
+				for ( String value : header.getValue() ) {
+					if ( first ) {
+						original.setHeader( name, value );
+						first = false;
+					}
+					else {
+						original.header( name, value );
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String toString() {
+			return request.toString();
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ElasticsearchClientBeanConfigurer.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ElasticsearchClientBeanConfigurer.java
index 0b3fb7fba70..dee2b1c129e 100644
--- a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ElasticsearchClientBeanConfigurer.java
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/ElasticsearchClientBeanConfigurer.java
@@ -16,5 +16,9 @@ public void configure(BeanConfigurationContext context) {
 				ElasticsearchClientFactory.class, ElasticsearchClientFactory.DEFAULT_BEAN_NAME,
 				beanResolver -> BeanHolder.of( new ClientRest4ElasticsearchClientFactory() )
 		);
+		context.define(
+				ElasticsearchClientFactory.class, ElasticsearchClientFactory.SIMPLE_JDK_CLIENT_BEAN_NAME,
+				beanResolver -> BeanHolder.of( new ClientJdkElasticsearchClientFactory() )
+		);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/HttpRequestInterceptor.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/HttpRequestInterceptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..818b36ec30d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/HttpRequestInterceptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
+
+interface HttpRequestInterceptor {
+	void process(HttpRequest.Builder request, HttpRequest.BodyPublisher bodyPublisher, HttpRequestInterceptorContext context)
+			throws IOException;
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/HttpRequestInterceptorContext.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/HttpRequestInterceptorContext.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..64bd39bf768
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/HttpRequestInterceptorContext.java
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+record HttpRequestInterceptorContext(String method) {
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/NodeProvider.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/NodeProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3354b9ad277
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/NodeProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.net.URLEncoder;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.cfg.ElasticsearchBackendSettings;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.logging.spi.ConfigurationLog;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.annotation.Incubating;
+
+@Incubating
+public class NodeProvider {
+
+	public static NodeProvider fromOptionalStrings(Optional<String> protocol, Optional<List<String>> hostAndPortStrings,
+			Optional<List<String>> uris, String pathPrefix) {
+		if ( !uris.isPresent() ) {
+			String protocolValue =
+					( protocol.isPresent() ) ? protocol.get() : ElasticsearchBackendSettings.Defaults.PROTOCOL;
+			List<String> hostAndPortValues =
+					( hostAndPortStrings.isPresent() )
+							? hostAndPortStrings.get()
+							: ElasticsearchBackendSettings.Defaults.HOSTS;
+			return fromStrings( protocolValue, hostAndPortValues, pathPrefix );
+		}
+
+		if ( protocol.isPresent() ) {
+			throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.uriAndProtocol( uris.get(), protocol.get() );
+		}
+
+		if ( hostAndPortStrings.isPresent() ) {
+			throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.uriAndHosts( uris.get(), hostAndPortStrings.get() );
+		}
+
+		return fromStrings( uris.get(), pathPrefix );
+	}
+
+	private final AtomicInteger currentNode = new AtomicInteger( 0 );
+	private final int numberOfNodes;
+	private final List<ServerNode> serverNodes;
+	private final boolean httpsEnabled;
+
+	public NodeProvider(List<ServerNode> serverNodes, boolean httpsEnabled) {
+		this.serverNodes = serverNodes;
+		this.numberOfNodes = serverNodes.size();
+		this.httpsEnabled = httpsEnabled;
+		// TODO: we can add a discovery of other nodes here later?
+	}
+
+	public ServerNode nextNode() {
+		return serverNodes.get( currentNode.getAndUpdate( this::updateCounter ) );
+	}
+
+	private int updateCounter(int i) {
+		return ( i + 1 ) % numberOfNodes;
+	}
+
+	private static NodeProvider fromStrings(String protocol, List<String> hostAndPortStrings, String pathPrefix) {
+		if ( hostAndPortStrings.isEmpty() ) {
+			throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.emptyListOfHosts();
+		}
+
+		List<ServerNode> serverNodes = new ArrayList<>( hostAndPortStrings.size() );
+		// Note: protocol and URI scheme are not the same thing,
+		// but for HTTP/HTTPS both the protocol and URI scheme are named HTTP/HTTPS.
+		String scheme = protocol.toLowerCase( Locale.ROOT );
+		for ( int i = 0; i < hostAndPortStrings.size(); ++i ) {
+			serverNodes.add( createServerNode( scheme, hostAndPortStrings.get( i ), pathPrefix ) );
+		}
+		return new NodeProvider( serverNodes, "https".equals( scheme ) );
+	}
+
+	private static ServerNode createServerNode(String scheme, String hostAndPort, String pathPrefix) {
+		if ( hostAndPort.indexOf( "://" ) >= 0 ) {
+			throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.invalidHostAndPort( hostAndPort, null );
+		}
+		String host;
+		int port = -1;
+		final int portIdx = hostAndPort.lastIndexOf( ':' );
+		if ( portIdx < 0 ) {
+			host = hostAndPort;
+		}
+		else {
+			try {
+				port = Integer.parseInt( hostAndPort.substring( portIdx + 1 ) );
+			}
+			catch (final NumberFormatException e) {
+				throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.invalidHostAndPort( hostAndPort, e );
+			}
+			host = hostAndPort.substring( 0, portIdx );
+		}
+		return new ServerNode( scheme, host, pathPrefix, port );
+	}
+
+	private static NodeProvider fromStrings(List<String> serverUrisStrings, String pathPrefix) {
+		if ( serverUrisStrings.isEmpty() ) {
+			throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.emptyListOfUris();
+		}
+
+		List<ServerNode> serverNodes = new ArrayList<>( serverUrisStrings.size() );
+		Boolean https = null;
+		for ( int i = 0; i < serverUrisStrings.size(); ++i ) {
+			String uri = serverUrisStrings.get( i );
+			try {
+				final int schemeIdx = uri.indexOf( "://" );
+				if ( schemeIdx < 0 ) {
+					uri = "http://" + uri;
+				}
+				URI actual = URI.create( uri );
+				String host = actual.getHost();
+				if ( actual.getPort() != -1 ) {
+					host = host + ":" + actual.getPort();
+				}
+				serverNodes.add( createServerNode( actual.getScheme(), host, pathPrefix ) );
+				boolean currentHttps = "https".equals( actual.getScheme() );
+				if ( https == null ) {
+					https = currentHttps;
+				}
+				else if ( currentHttps != https ) {
+					throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.differentProtocolsOnUris( serverUrisStrings );
+				}
+			}
+			catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+				throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.invalidUri( uri, e.getMessage(), e );
+			}
+		}
+
+		return new NodeProvider( serverNodes, https );
+	}
+
+	public boolean isSslEnabled() {
+		return httpsEnabled;
+	}
+
+	public static final class ServerNode {
+		private final String protocol;
+		private final String host;
+		private final String basePath;
+		private final int port;
+
+		public ServerNode(String protocol, String host, String basePath, int port) {
+			this.protocol = protocol;
+			this.host = host;
+			this.basePath = normalizeBasePath( basePath );
+			this.port = port;
+		}
+
+		private String normalizeBasePath(String basePath) {
+			if ( "".equals( basePath ) ) {
+				return "";
+			}
+			else if ( basePath.endsWith( "/" ) ) {
+				basePath = basePath.substring( 0, basePath.length() - 1 );
+			}
+			if ( !basePath.startsWith( "/" ) ) {
+				basePath = "/" + basePath;
+			}
+			return basePath;
+		}
+
+		private String buildQueryString(Map<String, String> parameters) {
+			if ( parameters == null || parameters.isEmpty() ) {
+				return "";
+			}
+
+			StringBuilder queryString = new StringBuilder();
+			boolean first = true;
+
+			for ( Map.Entry<String, String> entry : parameters.entrySet() ) {
+				if ( !first ) {
+					queryString.append( "&" );
+				}
+
+				String encodedKey = URLEncoder.encode( entry.getKey(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8 );
+				String encodedValue = URLEncoder.encode( entry.getValue(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8 );
+
+				queryString.append( encodedKey ).append( "=" ).append( encodedValue );
+				first = false;
+			}
+
+			return queryString.toString();
+		}
+
+		public URI createRequestURI(String path, Map<String, String> parameters) {
+			if ( !path.isEmpty() && !path.startsWith( "/" ) ) {
+				throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Path must start with '/': " + path );
+			}
+			String fullpath = basePath + path;
+			String queryString = buildQueryString( parameters );
+			try {
+				return new URI( protocol, null, host, port, fullpath, queryString.isEmpty() ? null : queryString, null );
+			}
+			catch (URISyntaxException e) {
+				throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Invalid URI: " + e.getMessage(), e );
+			}
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean equals(Object o) {
+			if ( !( o instanceof ServerNode that ) ) {
+				return false;
+			}
+			return port == that.port
+					&& Objects.equals( protocol, that.protocol ) && Objects.equals( host, that.host )
+					&& Objects.equals( basePath, that.basePath );
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public int hashCode() {
+			return Objects.hash( protocol, host, basePath, port );
+		}
+	}
+
+	public enum Status {
+		ACTIVE, FAILING;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/RestJdkClient.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/RestJdkClient.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..917b48ba008
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/impl/RestJdkClient.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.impl;
+
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
+import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.annotation.Incubating;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.impl.Closer;
+
+@Incubating
+public class RestJdkClient implements AutoCloseable {
+
+	private final NodeProvider nodeProvider;
+
+	private HttpClient httpClient;
+
+	public RestJdkClient(NodeProvider nodeProvider, HttpClient httpClient) {
+		this.nodeProvider = nodeProvider;
+		this.httpClient = httpClient;
+	}
+
+	public NodeProvider.ServerNode nextNode() {
+		return nodeProvider.nextNode();
+	}
+
+	public <T> CompletableFuture<HttpResponse<T>> sendAsync(HttpRequest request,
+			HttpResponse.BodyHandler<T> responseBodyHandler) {
+		return httpClient.sendAsync( request, responseBodyHandler );
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void close() throws Exception {
+		if ( httpClient != null ) {
+			try ( Closer<Exception> closer = new Closer<>() ) {
+				Optional<Executor> executor = httpClient.executor();
+				// May look a bit silly ... but close was only added in JDK 21:
+				if ( ( (Object) httpClient ) instanceof AutoCloseable closeable ) {
+					closer.push( AutoCloseable::close, closeable );
+				}
+				if ( executor.isPresent() && executor.get() instanceof AutoCloseable closeable ) {
+					closer.push( AutoCloseable::close, closeable );
+				}
+			}
+			finally {
+				httpClient = null;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..de5dc755042
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext.java
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk;
+
+
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.cfg.ConfigurationPropertySource;
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.environment.bean.BeanResolver;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.annotation.Incubating;
+
+/**
+ * The context passed to {@link ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer}.
+ */
+@Incubating
+public interface ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext {
+
+	/**
+	 * @return A {@link BeanResolver}.
+	 */
+	BeanResolver beanResolver();
+
+	/**
+	 * @return A configuration property source, appropriately masked so that the factory
+	 * doesn't need to care about Hibernate Search prefixes (hibernate.search.*, etc.). All the properties
+	 * can be accessed at the root.
+	 * <strong>CAUTION:</strong> the property key "type" is reserved for use by the engine.
+	 */
+	ConfigurationPropertySource configurationPropertySource();
+
+	/**
+	 * @return A JDK HTTP client builder, to set the configuration.
+	 * @see HttpClient.Builder
+	 */
+	HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder();
+
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cd405d3ec7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.annotation.Incubating;
+
+/**
+ * An extension point allowing fine-tuning of the JDK HTTP Client used by the Elasticsearch integration.
+ * <p>
+ * This enables in particular connecting to cloud services that require a particular authentication method,
+ * such as request signing on Amazon Web Services.
+ * <p>
+ * The ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer implementation will be given access to the HTTP client builder
+ * on startup.
+ * <p>
+ * Note that you don't have to configure the client unless you have specific needs:
+ * the default configuration should work just fine for an on-premise Elasticsearch server.
+ */
+@Incubating
+public interface ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer {
+
+	/**
+	 * Configure the HTTP Client.
+	 * <p>
+	 * This method is called once for every configurer, each time an Elasticsearch client is set up.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Implementors should take care of only applying configuration if relevant:
+	 * there may be multiple, conflicting configurers in the path, so implementors should first check
+	 * (through a configuration property) whether they are needed or not before applying any modification.
+	 * For example an authentication configurer could decide not to do anything if no username is provided,
+	 * or if the configuration property {@code my.configurer.enabled} is {@code false}.
+	 *
+	 * @param context A configuration context giving access to the JDK HTTP client builder
+	 * and configuration properties in particular.
+	 */
+	void configure(ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext context);
+
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/cfg/ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/cfg/ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f4d2fb1eb75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/cfg/ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.cfg;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.cfg.ElasticsearchBackendSettings;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.annotation.Incubating;
+
+/**
+ * Specific configuration properties for the Elasticsearch backend's rest client based on the Elasticsearch's low-level rest client.
+ * <p>
+ * Constants in this class are to be appended to a prefix to form a property key;
+ * see {@link org.hibernate.search.engine.cfg.BackendSettings} for details.
+ *
+ * @author Gunnar Morling
+ */
+@Incubating
+public final class ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings {
+
+	private ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSettings() {
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * The timeout when executing a request to an Elasticsearch server.
+	 * <p>
+	 * This includes the time needed to establish a connection, send the request and read the response.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Expects a positive Integer value in milliseconds, such as 60000,
+	 * or a String that can be parsed into such Integer value.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Defaults to no request timeout.
+	 */
+	public static final String REQUEST_TIMEOUT = "request_timeout";
+
+	/**
+	 * The timeout when establishing a connection to an Elasticsearch server.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Expects a positive Integer value in milliseconds, such as {@code 3000},
+	 * or a String that can be parsed into such Integer value.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Defaults to {@link Defaults#CONNECTION_TIMEOUT}.
+	 */
+	public static final String CONNECTION_TIMEOUT = "connection_timeout";
+
+	/**
+	* A {@link ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer} that defines custom HTTP client configuration.
+	* <p>
+	* It can be used for example to tune the SSL context to accept self-signed certificates.
+	* It allows overriding other HTTP client settings, such as {@link ElasticsearchBackendSettings#USERNAME}.
+	* <p>
+	* Expects a reference to a bean of type {@link ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer}.
+	* <p>
+	* Defaults to no value.
+	*/
+	public static final String CLIENT_CONFIGURER = "client.configurer";
+
+	/**
+	 * Default values for the different settings if no values are given.
+	 */
+	public static final class Defaults {
+
+		private Defaults() {
+		}
+
+		public static final int CONNECTION_TIMEOUT = 1000;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/cfg/spi/ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSpiSettings.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/cfg/spi/ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSpiSettings.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f779481e02c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/cfg/spi/ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSpiSettings.java
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.cfg.spi;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.engine.cfg.EngineSettings;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.common.annotation.Incubating;
+
+/**
+ * Configuration properties for the Elasticsearch backend that are considered SPI (and not API).
+ */
+@Incubating
+public final class ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSpiSettings {
+
+	/**
+	 * The prefix expected for the key of every Hibernate Search configuration property.
+	 */
+	public static final String PREFIX = EngineSettings.PREFIX + "backend.";
+
+	/**
+	 * An external HTTP client instance that Hibernate Search should use for all requests to Elasticsearch.
+	 * <p>
+	 * If this is set, Hibernate Search will not attempt to create its own {@link java.net.http.HttpClient},
+	 * and all client-related configuration properties (authentication, timeouts, configurer, ...)
+	 * will be ignored.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Hibernate Search will still apply some configuration properties (e.g. hosts/uris)
+	 * that are not handled by the {@link java.net.http.HttpClient} itself.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Expects a reference to a bean of type {@link java.net.http.HttpClient}.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Defaults to nothing: if no client instance is provided, Hibernate Search will create its own.
+	 * <p>
+	 * <strong>WARNING - Incubating API:</strong> the underlying client class may change without prior notice.
+	 *
+	 * @see org.hibernate.search.engine.cfg The core documentation of configuration properties,
+	 * which includes a description of the "bean reference" properties and accepted values.
+	 */
+	public static final String CLIENT_INSTANCE = "client.instance";
+
+	private ClientJdkElasticsearchBackendClientSpiSettings() {
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Configuration property keys without the {@link #PREFIX prefix}.
+	 */
+	public static class Radicals {
+
+		private Radicals() {
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static final class Defaults {
+
+		private Defaults() {
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/impl/ElasticsearchBackendFactory.java b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/impl/ElasticsearchBackendFactory.java
index f2891520c8a..abb58ace98e 100644
--- a/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/impl/ElasticsearchBackendFactory.java
+++ b/backend/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/backend/elasticsearch/impl/ElasticsearchBackendFactory.java
@@ -4,9 +4,12 @@
  */
 package org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.impl;
 
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchVersion;
 import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.cfg.ElasticsearchBackendSettings;
@@ -58,7 +61,7 @@ public class ElasticsearchBackendFactory implements BackendFactory {
 					.build();
 
 	private static final OptionalConfigurationProperty<BeanReference<? extends ElasticsearchClientFactory>> CLIENT_FACTORY =
-			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY )
+			ConfigurationProperty.forKey( ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY )
 					.asBeanReference( ElasticsearchClientFactory.class )
 					.build();
 
@@ -95,7 +98,7 @@ public BackendImplementor create(EventContext eventContext, BackendBuildContext
 				clientFactoryHolder = customClientFactoryHolderOptional.get();
 			}
 			else {
-				// otherwise let's find all client factories and pick
+				// otherwise let's find all client factories and pick one of them:
 				List<BeanReference<ElasticsearchClientFactory>> clientFactoryReferences =
 						beanResolver.allConfiguredForRole( ElasticsearchClientFactory.class );
 				if ( clientFactoryReferences.isEmpty() ) {
@@ -105,18 +108,34 @@ public BackendImplementor create(EventContext eventContext, BackendBuildContext
 				else if ( clientFactoryReferences.size() == 1 ) {
 					clientFactoryHolder = clientFactoryReferences.get( 0 ).resolve( beanResolver );
 				}
-				// if there are 2 of them, maybe one is the "default" one, if so -- use the other one
-				else if ( clientFactoryReferences.size() == 2 ) {
-					var defaultFactoryReference = beanResolver.namedConfiguredForRole( ElasticsearchClientFactory.class )
-							.get( ElasticsearchClientFactory.DEFAULT_BEAN_NAME );
-
-					var first = clientFactoryReferences.get( 0 );
-					var second = clientFactoryReferences.get( 1 );
-					if ( first == defaultFactoryReference ) {
-						clientFactoryHolder = second.resolve( beanResolver );
+				// if there are more of them, maybe one is the "default" and the other one is JDK based, if so -- use the 3rd one
+				else {
+					Map<String, BeanReference<ElasticsearchClientFactory>> namedFactoryReferences =
+							beanResolver.namedConfiguredForRole( ElasticsearchClientFactory.class );
+					if ( clientFactoryReferences.size() == 2
+							&& namedFactoryReferences.containsKey( ElasticsearchClientFactory.DEFAULT_BEAN_NAME )
+							&& namedFactoryReferences.containsKey( ElasticsearchClientFactory.SIMPLE_JDK_CLIENT_BEAN_NAME ) ) {
+						clientFactoryHolder = namedFactoryReferences.get( ElasticsearchClientFactory.DEFAULT_BEAN_NAME )
+								.resolve( beanResolver );
 					}
-					else if ( second == defaultFactoryReference ) {
-						clientFactoryHolder = first.resolve( beanResolver );
+					else {
+						Set<BeanReference<ElasticsearchClientFactory>> skippable = new HashSet<>( 2 );
+						skippable.add( namedFactoryReferences.get( ElasticsearchClientFactory.DEFAULT_BEAN_NAME ) );
+						skippable.add( namedFactoryReferences.get( ElasticsearchClientFactory.SIMPLE_JDK_CLIENT_BEAN_NAME ) );
+						for ( BeanReference<ElasticsearchClientFactory> factoryReference : clientFactoryReferences ) {
+							if ( skippable.contains( factoryReference ) ) {
+								continue;
+							}
+							if ( clientFactoryHolder == null ) {
+								clientFactoryHolder = factoryReference.resolve( beanResolver );
+							}
+							else {
+								throw ConfigurationLog.INSTANCE.backendClientFactoryMultipleConfigured(
+										clientFactoryReferences.stream().map( ref -> ref.resolve( beanResolver ) ).toList(),
+										eventContext
+								);
+							}
+						}
 					}
 				}
 				if ( clientFactoryHolder == null ) {
diff --git a/distribution/pom.xml b/distribution/pom.xml
index 704635af21f..695c0383e4b 100644
--- a/distribution/pom.xml
+++ b/distribution/pom.xml
@@ -275,6 +275,7 @@
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/elasticsearch-rest4-client/src/main/java;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/elasticsearch-rest5-client/src/main/java;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/opensearch-rest-client/src/main/java;
+                                ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/jdk-rest-client/src/main/java;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-aws/src/main/java;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/lucene/src/main/java;
                                 ${basedir}/../mapper/orm-outbox-polling/src/main/java;
@@ -289,8 +290,9 @@
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch/target/generated-sources/annotations;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/common/target/generated-sources/annotations;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/elasticsearch-rest4-client/target/generated-sources/annotations;
-                                ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/opensearch-rest-client/target/generated-sources/annotations;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/elasticsearch-rest5-client/target/generated-sources/annotations;
+                                ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/opensearch-rest-client/target/generated-sources/annotations;
+                                ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-client/jdk-rest-client/target/generated-sources/annotations;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/elasticsearch-aws/target/generated-sources/annotations;
                                 ${basedir}/../backend/lucene/target/generated-sources/annotations;
                                 ${basedir}/../mapper/orm-outbox-polling/src/main/avro/generated;
diff --git a/documentation/pom.xml b/documentation/pom.xml
index eb88781db83..8b5676a8490 100644
--- a/documentation/pom.xml
+++ b/documentation/pom.xml
@@ -26,10 +26,13 @@
         <failsafe.elasticsearch.rest5.summaryFile>${failsafe.elasticsearch.rest5.reportsDirectory}/failsafe-summary.xml</failsafe.elasticsearch.rest5.summaryFile>
         <failsafe.elasticsearch.opensearch.reportsDirectory>${project.build.directory}/failsafe-reports/elasticsearch-opensearch</failsafe.elasticsearch.opensearch.reportsDirectory>
         <failsafe.elasticsearch.opensearch.summaryFile>${failsafe.elasticsearch.opensearch.reportsDirectory}/failsafe-summary.xml</failsafe.elasticsearch.opensearch.summaryFile>
+        <failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.reportsDirectory>${project.build.directory}/failsafe-reports/elasticsearch-jdk</failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.reportsDirectory>
+        <failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.summaryFile>${failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.reportsDirectory}/failsafe-summary.xml</failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.summaryFile>
         <failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.lucene></failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.lucene>
         <failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch></failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch>
         <failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch.rest5></failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch.rest5>
         <failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch.opensearch></failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch.opensearch>
+        <failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch.jdk></failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch.jdk>
 
         <asciidoctor.base-output-dir>${project.build.directory}/asciidoctor/</asciidoctor.base-output-dir>
         <asciidoctor.theme-dir>${project.build.directory}/hibernate-asciidoctor-theme/asciidoc</asciidoctor.theme-dir>
@@ -227,8 +230,9 @@
                             </systemPropertyVariables>
                             <excludes>
                                 <exclude>**/Lucene*IT</exclude>
-                                <exclude>**/client/java/*IT</exclude>
+                                <exclude>**/client/rest5/*IT</exclude>
                                 <exclude>**/client/opensearch/*IT</exclude>
+                                <exclude>**/client/jdk/*IT</exclude>
                             </excludes>
                         </configuration>
                     </execution>
@@ -252,7 +256,7 @@
                                 <org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.type>elasticsearch</org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.type>
                             </systemPropertyVariables>
                             <includes>
-                                <include>**/client/java/*IT</include>
+                                <include>**/client/rest5/*IT</include>
                             </includes>
                         </configuration>
                     </execution>
@@ -280,6 +284,32 @@
                             </includes>
                         </configuration>
                     </execution>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>it-elasticsearch-jdk</id>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>integration-test</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <skip>${test.elasticsearch.skip}</skip>
+                            <argLine>${failsafe.jvm.args.no-jacoco} @{failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.elasticsearch.jdk}</argLine>
+                            <reportNameSuffix>${surefire.executionIdentifier}-elasticsearch-jdk</reportNameSuffix>
+                            <reportsDirectory>${failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.reportsDirectory}</reportsDirectory>
+                            <summaryFile>${failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.summaryFile}</summaryFile>
+                            <classpathDependencyExcludes>
+                                <classpathDependencyExclude>org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-lucene</classpathDependencyExclude>
+                                <classpathDependencyExclude>org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-rest4</classpathDependencyExclude>
+                                <classpathDependencyExclude>org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-rest5</classpathDependencyExclude>
+                                <classpathDependencyExclude>org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-opensearch-rest</classpathDependencyExclude>
+                            </classpathDependencyExcludes>
+                            <systemPropertyVariables>
+                                <org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.type>elasticsearch</org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.type>
+                                <org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.type>jdk-rest-client</org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.type>
+                            </systemPropertyVariables>
+                            <includes>
+                                <include>**/client/jdk/*IT</include>
+                            </includes>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
                     <execution>
                         <id>it-verify</id>
                         <goals>
@@ -291,6 +321,7 @@
                                 <summaryFile>${failsafe.elasticsearch.summaryFile}</summaryFile>
                                 <summaryFile>${failsafe.elasticsearch.rest5.summaryFile}</summaryFile>
                                 <summaryFile>${failsafe.elasticsearch.opensearch.summaryFile}</summaryFile>
+                                <summaryFile>${failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.summaryFile}</summaryFile>
                             </summaryFiles>
                         </configuration>
                     </execution>
@@ -613,6 +644,7 @@
                 <failsafe.elasticsearch.summaryFile>${rootProject.empty.failsafe.summaryFile}</failsafe.elasticsearch.summaryFile>
                 <failsafe.elasticsearch.rest5.summaryFile>${rootProject.empty.failsafe.summaryFile}</failsafe.elasticsearch.rest5.summaryFile>
                 <failsafe.elasticsearch.opensearch.summaryFile>${rootProject.empty.failsafe.summaryFile}</failsafe.elasticsearch.opensearch.summaryFile>
+                <failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.summaryFile>${rootProject.empty.failsafe.summaryFile}</failsafe.elasticsearch.jdk.summaryFile>
             </properties>
         </profile>
         <profile>
diff --git a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/migration/index.adoc b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/migration/index.adoc
index 0da686a3d4a..1c8b9903198 100644
--- a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/migration/index.adoc
+++ b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/migration/index.adoc
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ Currently available options are:
 * `org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-rest4` backed by `org.elasticsearch.client:elasticsearch-rest-client`
 * `org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-rest5` backed by `co.elastic.clients:elasticsearch-rest5-client`
 * `org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-opensearch-rest` backed by `org.opensearch.client:opensearch-rest-client`
+// * `org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-jdk` backed by `java.net.http.HttpClient`
 
 [[data-format]]
 == Data format and schema
diff --git a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc
index 4eb21392087..eaa4cc2ac37 100644
--- a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc
+++ b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc
@@ -17,5 +17,8 @@ Configuration properties from this section are applicable to the following clien
 |<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-opensearch,OpenSearch low level client>>
 ^| ✔
 
+|<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-jdk,JDK HttpClient based REST client>>
+^| ✔ {jdk-client-warn}
+
 |===
 ====
diff --git a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_apache_based.adoc b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_apache_based.adoc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6cd196f209e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_apache_based.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+// Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+[NOTE]
+====
+Configuration properties from this section are applicable to the following clients:
+
+[cols="3,2",options="header"]
+|===
+|Client |Configuration property applicability
+
+|<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-rest4,Elasticsearch low level REST client>>
+^| ✔
+
+|<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-rest5,Elasticsearch low level REST 5 client>>
+^| ✔
+
+|<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-opensearch,OpenSearch low level client>>
+^| ✔
+
+|<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-jdk,JDK HttpClient based REST client>>
+^| ❌ {jdk-client-warn}
+
+|===
+====
diff --git a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/reference/_backend-elasticsearch.adoc b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/reference/_backend-elasticsearch.adoc
index 03b9a9fc289..5105f629645 100644
--- a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/reference/_backend-elasticsearch.adoc
+++ b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/public/reference/_backend-elasticsearch.adoc
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ which may change in future versions of Hibernate Search.
 You should explicitly define the REST client in the application dependencies,
 if it matters which one the Elasticsearch backend will pick.
 
+:jdk-client-warn:
 === Available clients
 
 [[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-rest4]]
@@ -208,6 +209,23 @@ Underlying HTTP Client::: Apache HTTP Client 5
 
 This Elasticsearch backend REST client is based on the OpenSearch low level client (`org.opensearch.client:opensearch-rest-client`).
 
+[[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-jdk]]
+==== Simple REST client based on the JDKs `HttpClient`
+
+include::../components/_incubating-warning.adoc[]
+
+Coordinates::
+GroupID::: `org.hibernate.search`
+ArtifactID::: `hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-jdk`
+Underlying HTTP Client::: JDKs Http Client (`java.net.http.HttpClient`)
+
+This Elasticsearch backend REST client is based on the Http client that is part of the JDKs `java.net` API.
+Mostly intended for very basic use cases, and may lack some features,
+e.g. automatic node discovery, compared to the other clients.
+
+NOTE: JDKs Http client allows configuration though the system properties.
+Consult the list of available properties for your JDK version, e.g. https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/25/docs/api/java.net.http/module-summary.html[JDK 25]
+
 [[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-hosts]]
 === Target hosts
 
@@ -297,7 +315,7 @@ Expects a boolean value. The default for this property is `false`.
 * `discovery.refresh_interval` defines the interval between two executions of the automatic discovery.
 Expects a positive integer, in seconds. The default for this property is `10`.
 
-include::../components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc[]
+include::../components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_apache_based.adoc[]
 
 [[backend-elasticsearch-authentication-http]]
 === HTTP authentication
@@ -395,6 +413,7 @@ include::../components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc[]
 [[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-connection-tuning]]
 === [[_connection_tuning]] Connection tuning
 
+:jdk-client-warn: (Read timeout is not supported)
 Timeouts::
 +
 [source, properties]
@@ -418,6 +437,7 @@ These properties expect a positive <<configuration-property-types,Integer value>
 +
 include::../components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc[]
 
+:jdk-client-warn: (Configurable through JDKs Http client system properties)
 Connection pool::
 +
 [source, properties]
@@ -453,8 +473,9 @@ To prevent that from happening consider having the maximum number of connections
 ====
 
 +
-include::../components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc[]
+include::../components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_apache_based.adoc[]
 
+:jdk-client-warn: "(Configurable through JDKs Http client system properties)"
 Keep Alive::
 +
 [source, properties]
@@ -472,7 +493,7 @@ the duration from the `Keep-Alive` header or the value of this property (if set)
 If this property is not set, only the `Keep-Alive` header is considered,
 and if it's absent, idle connections will be kept forever.
 +
-include::../components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_all.adoc[]
+include::../components/elasticsearch-client-compatibility/_apache_based.adoc[]
 
 [[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-http-client]]
 === [[_custom_http_client_configurations]] Custom HTTP client configurations
@@ -485,7 +506,7 @@ See the following sections to learn how each of the clients can be configured.
 [[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-http-client-elasticsearch-rest]]
 === Elasticsearch low level client
 It is possible to directly configure the underlying Apache HTTP 4 client of the
-<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-rest,Elasticsearch low level client>>
+<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-rest4,Elasticsearch low level client>>
 using an instance of `org.apache.http.impl.nio.client.HttpAsyncClientBuilder`.
 
 With this API you can add interceptors, change the keep alive, the max connections,
@@ -503,7 +524,7 @@ for example `class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.clie
 ====
 [source, java, indent=0, subs="+callouts"]
 ----
-include::{sourcedir}/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest/HttpClientConfigurer.java[tags=include]
+include::{sourcedir}/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest4/HttpClientConfigurer.java[tags=include]
 ----
 <1> The class has to implement the `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer` interface.
 <2> The `configure` method provides the access to the `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext`.
@@ -546,7 +567,7 @@ for example `class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.clie
 ====
 [source, java, indent=0, subs="+callouts"]
 ----
-include::{sourcedir}/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/java/HttpClientConfigurer.java[tags=include]
+include::{sourcedir}/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest5/HttpClientConfigurer.java[tags=include]
 ----
 <1> The class has to implement the `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer` interface.
 <2> The `configure` method provides the access to the `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext`.
@@ -558,7 +579,7 @@ include::{sourcedir}/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/cl
 ====
 [source, xml, indent=0, subs="+callouts"]
 ----
-include::{resourcesdir}/configuration/http-client-configurer-java.properties[tags=include]
+include::{resourcesdir}/configuration/http-client-configurer-rest5.properties[tags=include]
 ----
 <1> Specify the HTTP client configurer.
 ====
@@ -589,7 +610,7 @@ for example `class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.clie
 ====
 [source, java, indent=0, subs="+callouts"]
 ----
-include::{sourcedir}/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/java/HttpClientConfigurer.java[tags=include]
+include::{sourcedir}/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/opensearch/HttpClientConfigurer.java[tags=include]
 ----
 <1> The class has to implement the `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer` interface.
 <2> The `configure` method provides the access to the `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext`.
@@ -611,6 +632,46 @@ include::{resourcesdir}/configuration/http-client-configurer-opensearch.properti
 Any setting defined by a custom http client configurer will override any other setting defined by Hibernate Search.
 ====
 
+[[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-http-client-elasticsearch-jdk]]
+=== JDK `HttpClient` based REST client
+It is possible to directly configure the underlying
+<<backend-elasticsearch-configuration-client-elasticsearch-client-jdk,`HttpClient`>>
+using an instance of `java.net.http.HttpClient.Builder`.
+
+Configuring the HTTP client directly requires two steps:
+
+. Define a class that implements the `org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer` interface.
+. Configure Hibernate Search to use that implementation by setting the configuration property
+`hibernate.search.backend.client.configurer`
+to a <<configuration-bean-reference-parsing,bean reference>> pointing to the implementation,
+for example `class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.HttpClientConfigurer`.
+
+.Implementing and using a `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer`
+====
+[source, java, indent=0, subs="+callouts"]
+----
+include::{sourcedir}/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/HttpClientConfigurer.java[tags=include]
+----
+<1> The class has to implement the `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer` interface.
+<2> The `configure` method provides the access to the `ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext`.
+<3> From the context it is possible to get the `HttpClient.Builder`.
+<4> Finally, you can use the builder to configure the client with your custom settings.
+====
+
+.Define a custom http client configurer in the properties
+====
+[source, xml, indent=0, subs="+callouts"]
+----
+include::{resourcesdir}/configuration/http-client-configurer-jdk.properties[tags=include]
+----
+<1> Specify the HTTP client configurer.
+====
+
+[NOTE]
+====
+Any setting defined by a custom http client configurer will override any other setting defined by Hibernate Search.
+====
+
 [[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-version]]
 == [[backend-elasticsearch-configuration-dialect]] Version compatibility
 
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/java/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
similarity index 94%
rename from documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/java/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
rename to documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
index 7c60c61dfcb..643c1243a47 100644
--- a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/java/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
+++ b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
  */
-package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.java;
+package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ void smoke() {
 		assertThat( staticCounters.get( HttpClientConfigurer.INSTANCES ) ).isZero();
 
 		setupHelper.start()
-				.withProperties( "/configuration/http-client-configurer-java.properties" )
+				.withProperties( "/configuration/http-client-configurer-jdk.properties" )
 				.setup( IndexedEntity.class );
 
 		assertThat( staticCounters.get( HttpClientConfigurer.INSTANCES ) ).isEqualTo( 1 );
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/HttpClientConfigurer.java b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/HttpClientConfigurer.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bc4e9b65dd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/jdk/HttpClientConfigurer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk;
+
+
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+import java.time.Duration;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext;
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.impl.test.extension.StaticCounters;
+
+
+// tag::include[]
+public class HttpClientConfigurer implements ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer { // <1>
+	// end::include[]
+	static final StaticCounters.Key INSTANCES = StaticCounters.createKey();
+
+	public HttpClientConfigurer() {
+		StaticCounters.get().increment( INSTANCES );
+	}
+
+	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
+	// tag::include[]
+
+	@Override
+	public void configure(ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext context) { // <2>
+		HttpClient.Builder builder = context.clientBuilder(); // <3>
+		builder.connectTimeout( Duration.ofSeconds( 2 ) ); // <4>
+	}
+}
+// end::include[]
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest4/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
similarity index 99%
rename from documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
rename to documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest4/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
index b1cefb90307..0a12f290196 100644
--- a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
+++ b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest4/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
  */
-package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest;
+package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest4;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest/HttpClientConfigurer.java b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest4/HttpClientConfigurer.java
similarity index 98%
rename from documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest/HttpClientConfigurer.java
rename to documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest4/HttpClientConfigurer.java
index ed27e585b33..0d0d8f2430a 100644
--- a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest/HttpClientConfigurer.java
+++ b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest4/HttpClientConfigurer.java
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
  */
-package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest;
+package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest4;
 
 import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest4.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext;
 import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest4.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer;
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest5/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest5/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c286513a5a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest5/ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest5;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.GeneratedValue;
+import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+
+import org.hibernate.search.documentation.testsupport.BackendConfigurations;
+import org.hibernate.search.documentation.testsupport.DocumentationSetupHelper;
+import org.hibernate.search.mapper.pojo.mapping.definition.annotation.Indexed;
+import org.hibernate.search.mapper.pojo.mapping.definition.annotation.KeywordField;
+import org.hibernate.search.util.impl.test.extension.StaticCounters;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.RegisterExtension;
+
+class ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurerIT {
+
+	@RegisterExtension
+	public DocumentationSetupHelper setupHelper = DocumentationSetupHelper.withSingleBackend(
+			BackendConfigurations.simple() );
+
+	@RegisterExtension
+	public StaticCounters staticCounters = StaticCounters.create();
+
+	@Test
+	void smoke() {
+		assertThat( staticCounters.get( HttpClientConfigurer.INSTANCES ) ).isZero();
+
+		setupHelper.start()
+				.withProperties( "/configuration/http-client-configurer-rest5.properties" )
+				.setup( IndexedEntity.class );
+
+		assertThat( staticCounters.get( HttpClientConfigurer.INSTANCES ) ).isEqualTo( 1 );
+	}
+
+	@Entity(name = IndexedEntity.NAME)
+	@Indexed
+	static class IndexedEntity {
+
+		static final String NAME = "indexed";
+
+		@Id
+		@GeneratedValue
+		private Integer id;
+
+		@KeywordField
+		private String text;
+
+		public String getText() {
+			return text;
+		}
+
+		public void setText(String text) {
+			this.text = text;
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/java/HttpClientConfigurer.java b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest5/HttpClientConfigurer.java
similarity index 99%
rename from documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/java/HttpClientConfigurer.java
rename to documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest5/HttpClientConfigurer.java
index f4c1ea55972..15f27ea27ae 100644
--- a/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/java/HttpClientConfigurer.java
+++ b/documentation/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/documentation/backend/elasticsearch/client/rest5/HttpClientConfigurer.java
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
  */
-package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.java;
+package org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest5;
 
 import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest5.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurationContext;
 import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest5.ElasticsearchHttpClientConfigurer;
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-java.properties b/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-jdk.properties
similarity index 71%
rename from documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-java.properties
rename to documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-jdk.properties
index a1d0816c717..6ebf3db372a 100644
--- a/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-java.properties
+++ b/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-jdk.properties
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
 
 # tag::include[]
 # <1>
-hibernate.search.backend.client.configurer = class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.java.HttpClientConfigurer
+hibernate.search.backend.client.configurer = class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.jdk.HttpClientConfigurer
 # end::include[]
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-rest5.properties b/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-rest5.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9c19ecc5264
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer-rest5.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+
+# tag::include[]
+# <1>
+hibernate.search.backend.client.configurer = class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest5.HttpClientConfigurer
+# end::include[]
diff --git a/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer.properties b/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer.properties
index 39254336939..cbbd123eb95 100644
--- a/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer.properties
+++ b/documentation/src/test/resources/configuration/http-client-configurer.properties
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
 
 # tag::include[]
 # <1>
-hibernate.search.backend.client.configurer = class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest.HttpClientConfigurer
+hibernate.search.backend.client.configurer = class:org.hibernate.search.documentation.backend.elasticsearch.client.rest4.HttpClientConfigurer
 # end::include[]
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/pom.xml b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/pom.xml
index 0bcbb60d786..fa79eaf12db 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/pom.xml
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/pom.xml
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@
         <failsafe.client.elasticsearch.rest5.summaryFile>${failsafe.client.elasticsearch.rest5.reportsDirectory}/failsafe-summary.xml</failsafe.client.elasticsearch.rest5.summaryFile>
         <failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.client.elasticsearch.rest5></failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.client.elasticsearch.rest5>
 
+        <failsafe.client.jdk.reportsDirectory>${project.build.directory}/failsafe-reports/elasticsearch-jdk</failsafe.client.jdk.reportsDirectory>
+        <failsafe.client.jdk.summaryFile>${failsafe.client.jdk.reportsDirectory}/failsafe-summary.xml</failsafe.client.jdk.summaryFile>
+        <failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.client.jdk></failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.client.jdk>
+
         <surefire.jvm.args.module>
             ${test.mockito.agent.jvm.args}
         </surefire.jvm.args.module>
@@ -163,6 +167,37 @@
                             </excludes>
                         </configuration>
                     </execution>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>it-jdk-client</id>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>integration-test</goal>
+                            <goal>verify</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <trimStackTrace>false</trimStackTrace>
+                            <skip>${test.elasticsearch.skip}</skip>
+                            <reportNameSuffix>${surefire.executionIdentifier}-jdk</reportNameSuffix>
+                            <reportsDirectory>${failsafe.client.jdk.reportsDirectory}</reportsDirectory>
+                            <summaryFile>${failsafe.client.jdk.summaryFile}</summaryFile>
+                            <argLine>${failsafe.jvm.args.no-jacoco} @{failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.client.jdk}</argLine>
+                            <systemProperties>
+                                <org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.type>jdk-rest-client</org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.type>
+                            </systemProperties>
+                            <classpathDependencyExcludes>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-rest4</exclude>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-rest5</exclude>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search:hibernate-search-backend-elasticsearch-client-opensearch-rest</exclude>
+                            </classpathDependencyExcludes>
+                            <excludes>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.ClientRest4ElasticsearchClientFactoryIT</exclude>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.ClientRest5ElasticsearchClientFactoryIT</exclude>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.ClientOpenSearchElasticsearchClientFactoryIT</exclude>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.ClientRest4ElasticsearchExtensionIT</exclude>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.ClientRest5ElasticsearchExtensionIT</exclude>
+                                <exclude>org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.ClientOpenSearchElasticsearchExtensionIT</exclude>
+                            </excludes>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
                 </executions>
             </plugin>
         </plugins>
@@ -234,6 +269,17 @@
                                     <destFile>${project.build.directory}/${jacoco.environment.sub-directory}/opensearch/jacoco.exec</destFile>
                                 </configuration>
                             </execution>
+                            <execution>
+                                <id>jacoco-prepare-agent-integration-jdk</id>
+                                <phase>initialize</phase>
+                                <goals>
+                                    <goal>prepare-agent-integration</goal>
+                                </goals>
+                                <configuration>
+                                    <propertyName>failsafe.jvm.args.jacoco.client.jdk</propertyName>
+                                    <destFile>${project.build.directory}/${jacoco.environment.sub-directory}/jdk/jacoco.exec</destFile>
+                                </configuration>
+                            </execution>
                         </executions>
                     </plugin>
                 </plugins>
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchBootstrapFailureIT.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchBootstrapFailureIT.java
index d6c56ed14ae..32312e3a6b8 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchBootstrapFailureIT.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchBootstrapFailureIT.java
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ void cannotConnect() {
 						.defaultBackendContext()
 						.failure(
 								"Unable to detect the Elasticsearch version running on the cluster",
-								"Elasticsearch request failed",
-								"Connection refused"
+								"Elasticsearch request failed"
+						// , "Connection refused"
 						)
 				);
 	}
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchBootstrapIT.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchBootstrapIT.java
index f5c2d15233e..516054fa35d 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchBootstrapIT.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/bootstrap/ElasticsearchBootstrapIT.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ void explicitModelDialect() {
 						ElasticsearchBackendSettings.VERSION, ElasticsearchTestDialect.getActualVersion().toString()
 				)
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY,
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY,
 						elasticsearchClientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withSchemaManagement( StubMappingSchemaManagementStrategy.DROP_ON_SHUTDOWN_ONLY )
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ void noVersionCheck_missingVersion() {
 								ElasticsearchBackendSettings.VERSION_CHECK_ENABLED, false
 						)
 						.withBackendProperty(
-								ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY,
+								ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY,
 								elasticsearchClientSpy.factoryReference()
 						)
 						.withSchemaManagement( StubMappingSchemaManagementStrategy.DROP_ON_SHUTDOWN_ONLY )
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ void noVersionCheck_incompleteVersion() {
 								ElasticsearchBackendSettings.VERSION, versionWithMajorOnly
 						)
 						.withBackendProperty(
-								ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY,
+								ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY,
 								elasticsearchClientSpy.factoryReference()
 						)
 						.withSchemaManagement( StubMappingSchemaManagementStrategy.DROP_ON_SHUTDOWN_ONLY )
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ void noVersionCheck_completeVersion() {
 						ElasticsearchBackendSettings.VERSION, configuredVersion
 				)
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY,
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY,
 						elasticsearchClientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withSchemaManagement( StubMappingSchemaManagementStrategy.DROP_ON_SHUTDOWN_ONLY )
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ void noVersionCheck_versionOverrideOnStart_incompatibleVersion() {
 						ElasticsearchBackendSettings.VERSION, configuredVersionOnBackendCreation
 				)
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY,
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY,
 						elasticsearchClientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withSchemaManagement( StubMappingSchemaManagementStrategy.DROP_ON_SHUTDOWN_ONLY )
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ void noVersionCheck_versionOverrideOnStart_compatibleVersion() {
 						ElasticsearchBackendSettings.VERSION, versionWithMajorOnly
 				)
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY,
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY,
 						elasticsearchClientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withSchemaManagement( StubMappingSchemaManagementStrategy.DROP_ON_SHUTDOWN_ONLY )
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ void noVersionCheck_customSettingsAndMapping() {
 
 		SearchSetupHelper.PartialSetup partialSetup = setupHelper.start()
 				.withBackendProperty( ElasticsearchBackendSettings.VERSION, configuredVersion )
-				.withBackendProperty( ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY,
+				.withBackendProperty( ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY,
 						elasticsearchClientSpy.factoryReference() )
 				.withBackendProperty( ElasticsearchIndexSettings.SCHEMA_MANAGEMENT_SETTINGS_FILE,
 						"bootstrap-it/custom-settings.json" )
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchFieldAttributesIT.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchFieldAttributesIT.java
index 8f7f9bc94e1..ebee12353da 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchFieldAttributesIT.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchFieldAttributesIT.java
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ private void matchMapping(Consumer<IndexSchemaElement> mapping, JsonObject prope
 		);
 
 		setupHelper.start()
-				.withBackendProperty( ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference() )
+				.withBackendProperty( ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference() )
 				.withIndex( index )
 				.setup();
 
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchFieldTypesIT.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchFieldTypesIT.java
index 76f759b78f7..d96ec260678 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchFieldTypesIT.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchFieldTypesIT.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ void test() {
 
 		setupHelper.start()
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withIndex( index )
 				.setup();
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchTypeNameMappingSchemaIT.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchTypeNameMappingSchemaIT.java
index 6691dc84bfa..3251e68da1c 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchTypeNameMappingSchemaIT.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/mapping/ElasticsearchTypeNameMappingSchemaIT.java
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ void schema(String strategyName, JsonObject expectedMappingContent) {
 
 		setupHelper.start()
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withBackendProperty(
 						// Don't contribute any analysis definitions, it messes with our assertions
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/search/query/ElasticsearchSearchQueryIT.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/search/query/ElasticsearchSearchQueryIT.java
index df03220623f..b125162e139 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/search/query/ElasticsearchSearchQueryIT.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/search/query/ElasticsearchSearchQueryIT.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public static List<? extends Arguments> params() {
 	public void init(Object layoutStrategy, URLEncodedString readName) {
 		setupHelper.start()
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withBackendProperty(
 						ElasticsearchBackendSettings.LAYOUT_STRATEGY, layoutStrategy
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/search/query/ElasticsearchSearchQueryRequestTransformerIT.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/search/query/ElasticsearchSearchQueryRequestTransformerIT.java
index 33d435fad6c..68087a46842 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/search/query/ElasticsearchSearchQueryRequestTransformerIT.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/search/query/ElasticsearchSearchQueryRequestTransformerIT.java
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ class ElasticsearchSearchQueryRequestTransformerIT {
 	void setup() {
 		setupHelper.start()
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withIndexes( mainIndex, otherIndex )
 				.setup();
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/testsupport/util/ElasticsearchTckBackendSetupStrategy.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/testsupport/util/ElasticsearchTckBackendSetupStrategy.java
index ab5f613f89c..a84333b0317 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/testsupport/util/ElasticsearchTckBackendSetupStrategy.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/testsupport/util/ElasticsearchTckBackendSetupStrategy.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
  */
 package org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.testsupport.util;
 
+import org.hibernate.search.backend.elasticsearch.cfg.spi.ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings;
 import org.hibernate.search.engine.environment.bean.BeanReference;
 import org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.testsupport.configuration.DefaultITAnalysisConfigurer;
 import org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.tck.testsupport.util.TckBackendAccessor;
@@ -13,10 +14,33 @@
 import org.hibernate.search.util.impl.integrationtest.common.TestConfigurationProvider;
 
 class ElasticsearchTckBackendSetupStrategy extends TckBackendSetupStrategy<ElasticsearchBackendConfiguration> {
+	private static final String ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE_PROPERTY_KEY =
+			"org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.type";
+	private static final String ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE;
+
+	// Uncomment one of the following lines to set the backend type when running tests from the IDE
+	public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = null;
+	// public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = "default";
+	//	public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = "jdk-rest-client";
+	//	public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = "opensearch-rest-client";
+	//	public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = "elasticsearch-rest5";
+
+	static {
+		String property = System.getProperty( ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE_PROPERTY_KEY );
+		if ( property == null ) {
+			ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE;
+		}
+		else {
+			ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = property;
+		}
+	}
 
 	ElasticsearchTckBackendSetupStrategy() {
 		super( new ElasticsearchBackendConfiguration() );
 		setProperty( "analysis.configurer", BeanReference.ofInstance( new DefaultITAnalysisConfigurer() ) );
+		if ( ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE != null ) {
+			setProperty( ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY, ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE );
+		}
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/work/ElasticsearchIndexingIT.java b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/work/ElasticsearchIndexingIT.java
index d45cc714ad3..cd7b40df0cc 100644
--- a/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/work/ElasticsearchIndexingIT.java
+++ b/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/hibernate/search/integrationtest/backend/elasticsearch/work/ElasticsearchIndexingIT.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public static List<? extends Arguments> params() {
 	public void init(Object layoutStrategy, URLEncodedString writeName) {
 		setupHelper.start()
 				.withBackendProperty(
-						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
+						ElasticsearchBackendSpiSettings.Radicals.CLIENT_FACTORY, clientSpy.factoryReference()
 				)
 				.withBackendProperty(
 						ElasticsearchBackendSettings.LAYOUT_STRATEGY, layoutStrategy
diff --git a/util/internal/integrationtest/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/util/impl/integrationtest/common/extension/BackendConfiguration.java b/util/internal/integrationtest/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/util/impl/integrationtest/common/extension/BackendConfiguration.java
index 8b0d043c802..97b4321c9e6 100644
--- a/util/internal/integrationtest/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/util/impl/integrationtest/common/extension/BackendConfiguration.java
+++ b/util/internal/integrationtest/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/search/util/impl/integrationtest/common/extension/BackendConfiguration.java
@@ -15,12 +15,22 @@
 public abstract class BackendConfiguration {
 
 	private static final String BACKEND_TYPE_PROPERTY_KEY = "org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.type";
+	private static final String ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE_PROPERTY_KEY =
+			"org.hibernate.search.integrationtest.backend.elasticsearch.client.type";
 
 	// Uncomment one of the following lines to set the backend type when running tests from the IDE
 	public static final String IDE_BACKEND_TYPE = "lucene";
 	//	public static final String IDE_BACKEND_TYPE = "elasticsearch";
 
+	// Uncomment one of the following lines to set the backend type when running tests from the IDE
+	public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = null;
+	// public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = "default";
+	//	public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = "jdk-rest-client";
+	//	public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = "opensearch-rest-client";
+	//	public static final String IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = "elasticsearch-rest5";
+
 	public static final String BACKEND_TYPE;
+	public static final String ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE;
 	public static final boolean IS_IDE;
 	static {
 		String property = System.getProperty( BACKEND_TYPE_PROPERTY_KEY );
@@ -38,6 +48,18 @@ public abstract class BackendConfiguration {
 			BACKEND_TYPE = property;
 			IS_IDE = false;
 		}
+		if ( isElasticsearch() ) {
+			property = System.getProperty( ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE_PROPERTY_KEY );
+			if ( property == null ) {
+				ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = IDE_ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE;
+			}
+			else {
+				ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = property;
+			}
+		}
+		else {
+			ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE = null;
+		}
 	}
 
 	public static boolean isElasticsearch() {
@@ -62,6 +84,9 @@ public final Map<String, String> backendProperties(TestConfigurationProvider con
 			// More than one backend type in the classpath, we have to set it explicitly.
 			rawBackendProperties.put( BackendSettings.TYPE, BACKEND_TYPE );
 		}
+		if ( ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE != null ) {
+			rawBackendProperties.put( "client_factory", ELASTICSEARCH_BACKEND_CLIENT_TYPE );
+		}
 		return configurationProvider.interpolateProperties( rawBackendProperties );
 	}