diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch.py
index d626d1d1c..434a4e380 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch.py
@@ -11,14 +11,12 @@ from wagtail.wagtailsearch.indexed import Indexed
 import string
 
 
-class ElasticSearchResults(object):
-    def __init__(self, backend, model, query_string, fields=None, filters={}, prefetch_related=[]):
-        self.backend = backend
+class ElasticSearchQuery(object):
+    def __init__(self, model, query_string, fields=None, filters={}):
         self.model = model
         self.query_string = query_string
-        self.fields = fields
+        self.fields = fields or ['_all']
         self.filters = filters
-        self.prefetch_related = prefetch_related
 
     def _get_filters(self):
         # Filters
@@ -83,7 +81,7 @@ class ElasticSearchResults(object):
 
         return filters
 
-    def _get_query(self):
+    def to_es(self):
         # Query
         query = {
             'query_string': {
@@ -107,26 +105,37 @@ class ElasticSearchResults(object):
             }
         }
 
-    def _get_results_pks(self, offset=0, limit=None):
-        query = self._get_query()
-        query['from'] = offset
-        if limit is not None:
-            query['size'] = limit
 
-        hits = self.backend.es.search(
+class ElasticSearchResults(object):
+    def __init__(self, backend, query, prefetch_related=[]):
+        self.backend = backend
+        self.query = query
+        self.prefetch_related = prefetch_related
+
+    def _get_results_pks(self, offset=0, limit=None):
+        # Params for elasticsearch query
+        params = dict(
             index=self.backend.es_index,
-            body=dict(query=query),
+            body=dict(query=self.query.to_es()),
             _source=False,
             fields='pk',
+            from_=offset,
         )
 
+        # Add limit if set
+        if limit is not None:
+            params['size'] = limit
+
+        # Send to ElasticSearch
+        hits = self.backend.es.search(**params)
+
         pks = [hit['fields']['pk'] for hit in hits['hits']['hits']]
 
         # ElasticSearch 1.x likes to pack pks into lists, unpack them if this has happened
         return [pk[0] if isinstance(pk, list) else pk for pk in pks]
 
     def _get_count(self):
-        query = self._get_query()
+        query = self.query.to_es()
 
         # Elasticsearch 1.x
         count = self.backend.es.count(
@@ -157,7 +166,7 @@ class ElasticSearchResults(object):
                     pk_list.append(pk)
 
             # Get results
-            results = self.model.objects.filter(pk__in=pk_list)
+            results = self.query.model.objects.filter(pk__in=pk_list)
 
             # Prefetch related
             for prefetch in self.prefetch_related:
@@ -174,7 +183,7 @@ class ElasticSearchResults(object):
         else:
             # Return a single item
             pk = self._get_results_pks(key, key + 1)[0]
-            return self.model.objects.get(pk=pk)
+            return self.query.model.objects.get(pk=pk)
 
     def __len__(self):
         return self._get_count()
@@ -348,4 +357,4 @@ class ElasticSearch(BaseSearch):
             return []
 
         # Return search results
-        return ElasticSearchResults(self, model, query_string, fields=fields, filters=filters, prefetch_related=prefetch_related)
+        return ElasticSearchResults(self, ElasticSearchQuery(model, query_string, fields=fields, filters=filters), prefetch_related=prefetch_related)