diff --git a/src/plugins/api/index_pattern_endpoints.js b/src/plugins/api/index_pattern_endpoints.js
index 861ffe5fa73b..7e7d83561a2b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/api/index_pattern_endpoints.js
+++ b/src/plugins/api/index_pattern_endpoints.js
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 const esErrors = require('elasticsearch').errors;
 const Boom = require('Boom');
+const Joi = require('Joi');
 const _ = require('lodash');
 const Promise = require('bluebird');
 const getMappings = require('./lib/get_mappings');
 const stitchPatternAndMappings = require('./lib/stitch_pattern_and_mappings');
 const {templateToPattern, patternToTemplate} = require('./lib/convert_pattern_and_template_name');
 const removeDeprecatedFieldProps = require('./lib/remove_deprecated_field_props');
+const indexPatternSchema = require('./lib/schemas/index_pattern_schema');
 
 export default function (server) {
 
@@ -97,6 +99,10 @@ export default function (server) {
     method: 'POST',
     handler: function (req, reply) {
       if (_.isEmpty(req.payload)) { return reply(Boom.badRequest('Payload required')); }
+      const validation = Joi.validate(req.payload, indexPatternSchema);
+      if (validation.error) {
+        return reply(Boom.badRequest(validation.error));
+      }
 
       const client = server.plugins.elasticsearch.client;
       const indexPattern = _.cloneDeep(req.payload);
diff --git a/src/plugins/api/lib/schemas/index_pattern_schema.js b/src/plugins/api/lib/schemas/index_pattern_schema.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..43a532bba66f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugins/api/lib/schemas/index_pattern_schema.js
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+var Joi = require('joi');
+
+module.exports = Joi.object({
+  title: Joi.string().required(),
+  timeFieldName: Joi.string(),
+  intervalName: Joi.string(),
+  fields: Joi.array().items(Joi.object({
+    name: Joi.string().required(),
+    count: Joi.number().integer(),
+    scripted: Joi.boolean(),
+    mapping: Joi.object()
+  })),
+  fieldFormatMap: Joi.object()
+});
diff --git a/test/unit/api/index_patterns/data.js b/test/unit/api/index_patterns/data.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..752e8da79a9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/api/index_patterns/data.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+module.exports = function createTestData() {
+  return {
+    indexPatternWithMappings: {
+      'title': 'logstash-*',
+      'timeFieldName': '@timestamp',
+      'fields': [{
+        'name': 'geo.coordinates',
+        'count': 0,
+        'scripted': false,
+        'mapping': {'type': 'geo_point', 'index': 'not_analyzed', 'doc_values': false}
+      }, {
+        'name': 'ip',
+        'count': 2,
+        'scripted': false,
+        'mapping': {'type': 'ip', 'index': 'not_analyzed', 'doc_values': true}
+      }, {
+        'name': '@timestamp',
+        'count': 0,
+        'scripted': false,
+        'mapping': {'type': 'date', 'index': 'not_analyzed', 'doc_values': true}
+      }, {
+        'name': 'agent',
+        'count': 0,
+        'scripted': false,
+        'mapping': {'type': 'string', 'index': 'analyzed', 'doc_values': false}
+      }, {
+        'name': 'bytes',
+        'count': 2,
+        'scripted': false,
+        'mapping': {'type': 'number', 'index': 'not_analyzed', 'doc_values': true}
+      }]
+    }
+  };
+};
diff --git a/test/unit/api/index_patterns/index.js b/test/unit/api/index_patterns/index.js
index ed934995116c..38a44550fd31 100644
--- a/test/unit/api/index_patterns/index.js
+++ b/test/unit/api/index_patterns/index.js
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ define(function (require) {
   var ScenarioManager = require('intern/dojo/node!../../../fixtures/scenarioManager');
   var request = require('intern/dojo/node!supertest-as-promised');
   var url = require('intern/dojo/node!url');
+  var Promise = require('bluebird');
+  var createTestData = require('intern/dojo/node!../../../unit/api/index_patterns/data');
+  var _ = require('intern/dojo/node!lodash');
+
 
   bdd.describe('index-patterns API', function () {
     var scenarioManager = new ScenarioManager(url.format(config.servers.elasticsearch));
@@ -27,10 +31,26 @@ define(function (require) {
 
     bdd.describe('POST index-patterns', function postIndexPatterns() {
 
-      bdd.it('should return 400 for a missing payload', function missingPayload() {
-        return request.post('/index-patterns')
-          .send({})
-          .expect(400);
+      bdd.it('should return 400 for an invalid payload', function invalidPayload() {
+        return Promise.all([
+          request.post('/index-patterns').expect(400),
+
+          request.post('/index-patterns')
+            .send({})
+            .expect(400),
+
+          request.post('/index-patterns')
+            .send(_.assign(createTestData().indexPatternWithMappings, {title: false}))
+            .expect(400),
+
+          request.post('/index-patterns')
+            .send(_.assign(createTestData().indexPatternWithMappings, {fields: {}}))
+            .expect(400),
+
+          request.post('/index-patterns')
+            .send(_.assign(createTestData().indexPatternWithMappings, {fields: [{count: 0}]}))
+            .expect(400)
+        ]);
       });
 
     });