diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/WriteRequest.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/WriteRequest.java
index 6379a4fb259c3..50edcd39bd16e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/WriteRequest.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/WriteRequest.java
@@ -65,36 +65,43 @@ enum RefreshPolicy implements Writeable {
         /**
          * Don't refresh after this request. The default.
          */
-        NONE,
+        NONE("false"),
         /**
          * Force a refresh as part of this request. This refresh policy does not scale for high indexing or search throughput but is useful
          * to present a consistent view to for indices with very low traffic. And it is wonderful for tests!
          */
-        IMMEDIATE,
+        IMMEDIATE("true"),
         /**
          * Leave this request open until a refresh has made the contents of this request visible to search. This refresh policy is
          * compatible with high indexing and search throughput but it causes the request to wait to reply until a refresh occurs.
          */
-        WAIT_UNTIL;
+        WAIT_UNTIL("wait_for");
+
+        private final String value;
+
+        RefreshPolicy(String value) {
+            this.value = value;
+        }
+
+        public String getValue() {
+            return value;
+        }
 
         /**
          * Parse the string representation of a refresh policy, usually from a request parameter.
          */
-        public static RefreshPolicy parse(String string) {
-            switch (string) {
-            case "false":
-                return NONE;
-            /*
-             * Empty string is IMMEDIATE because that makes "POST /test/test/1?refresh" perform a refresh which reads well and is what folks
-             * are used to.
-             */
-            case "":
-            case "true":
+        public static RefreshPolicy parse(String value) {
+            for (RefreshPolicy policy : values()) {
+                if (policy.getValue().equals(value)) {
+                    return policy;
+                }
+            }
+            if ("".equals(value)) {
+                // Empty string is IMMEDIATE because that makes "POST /test/test/1?refresh" perform
+                // a refresh which reads well and is what folks are used to.
                 return IMMEDIATE;
-            case "wait_for":
-                return WAIT_UNTIL;
             }
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown value for refresh: [" + string + "].");
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown value for refresh: [" + value + "].");
         }
 
         public static RefreshPolicy readFrom(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/RefreshPolicyTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/RefreshPolicyTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a6e25036c5317
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/RefreshPolicyTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.elasticsearch.action.support;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.BytesStreamOutput;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+public class RefreshPolicyTests extends ESTestCase {
+
+    public void testSerialization() throws IOException {
+        final WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy refreshPolicy = randomFrom(WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy.values());
+        try (BytesStreamOutput out = new BytesStreamOutput()) {
+            refreshPolicy.writeTo(out);
+            try (StreamInput in = out.bytes().streamInput()) {
+                WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy deserializedRefreshPolicy = WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy.readFrom(in);
+                assertEquals(refreshPolicy, deserializedRefreshPolicy);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void testParse() throws IOException {
+        final String refreshPolicyValue = randomFrom(WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy.values()).getValue();
+        assertEquals(refreshPolicyValue, WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy.parse(refreshPolicyValue).getValue());
+    }
+
+    public void testParseEmpty() throws IOException {
+        assertEquals(WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy.IMMEDIATE, WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy.parse(""));
+    }
+
+    public void testParseUnknown() throws IOException {
+        IllegalArgumentException e = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy.parse("unknown"));
+        assertEquals("Unknown value for refresh: [unknown].", e.getMessage());
+    }
+}