diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 432341f..84bc410 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## 3.1.8
+  - Fix a thread safety issue when using this filter with multiple workers on heavy load, we now create an elasticsearch client for every LogStash worker. #76
+
 ## 3.1.6
   - Fix some documentation issues
 
diff --git a/lib/logstash/filters/elasticsearch.rb b/lib/logstash/filters/elasticsearch.rb
index 7ca7452..f5cad83 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/filters/elasticsearch.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/filters/elasticsearch.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 require "logstash/namespace"
 require_relative "elasticsearch/client"
 require "logstash/json"
+java_import "java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap"
 
 # .Compatibility Note
 # [NOTE]
@@ -125,14 +126,10 @@ class LogStash::Filters::Elasticsearch < LogStash::Filters::Base
   # Tags the event on failure to look up geo information. This can be used in later analysis.
   config :tag_on_failure, :validate => :array, :default => ["_elasticsearch_lookup_failure"]
 
+  attr_reader :clients_pool
+
   def register
-    options = {
-      :ssl => @ssl,
-      :hosts => @hosts,
-      :ca_file => @ca_file,
-      :logger => @logger
-    }
-    @client = LogStash::Filters::ElasticsearchClient.new(@user, @password, options)
+    @clients_pool = java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap.new
 
     #Load query if it exists
     if @query_template
@@ -162,7 +159,7 @@ def filter(event)
 
       @logger.debug("Querying elasticsearch for lookup", :params => params)
 
-      results = @client.search(params)
+      results = get_client.search(params)
       @fields.each do |old_key, new_key|
         if !results['hits']['hits'].empty?
           set = []
@@ -178,4 +175,22 @@ def filter(event)
     end
     filter_matched(event)
   end # def filter
+
+  private
+  def client_options
+    {
+      :ssl => @ssl,
+      :hosts => @hosts,
+      :ca_file => @ca_file,
+      :logger => @logger
+    }
+  end
+
+  def new_client
+    LogStash::Filters::ElasticsearchClient.new(@user, @password, client_options)
+  end
+
+  def get_client
+    @clients_pool.computeIfAbsent(Thread.current, lambda { |x| new_client })
+  end
 end #class LogStash::Filters::Elasticsearch
diff --git a/lib/logstash/filters/elasticsearch/client.rb b/lib/logstash/filters/elasticsearch/client.rb
index d9f7708..2d33f61 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/filters/elasticsearch/client.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/filters/elasticsearch/client.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def initialize(user, password, options={})
         # set ca_file even if ssl isn't on, since the host can be an https url
         transport_options[:ssl] = { ca_file: options[:ca_file] } if options[:ca_file]
 
-        @logger.info("New ElasticSearch filter", :hosts => hosts)
+        @logger.info("New ElasticSearch filter client", :hosts => hosts)
         @client = ::Elasticsearch::Client.new(hosts: hosts, transport_options: transport_options)
       end
 
diff --git a/logstash-filter-elasticsearch.gemspec b/logstash-filter-elasticsearch.gemspec
index d5de80f..6ab63b6 100644
--- a/logstash-filter-elasticsearch.gemspec
+++ b/logstash-filter-elasticsearch.gemspec
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
 
   s.name            = 'logstash-filter-elasticsearch'
-  s.version         = '3.1.6'
+  s.version         = '3.1.8'
   s.licenses        = ['Apache License (2.0)']
   s.summary         = "Search elasticsearch for a previous log event and copy some fields from it into the current event"
   s.description     = "This gem is a Logstash plugin required to be installed on top of the Logstash core pipeline using $LS_HOME/bin/logstash-plugin install gemname. This gem is not a stand-alone program"
diff --git a/spec/filters/elasticsearch_spec.rb b/spec/filters/elasticsearch_spec.rb
index 30877b2..924e6b6 100644
--- a/spec/filters/elasticsearch_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/filters/elasticsearch_spec.rb
@@ -38,6 +38,25 @@
       plugin.register
     end
 
+    after(:each) do
+      Thread.current[:filter_elasticsearch_client] = nil
+    end
+
+    # Since the Elasticsearch Ruby client is not thread safe
+    # and under high load we can get error with the connection pool
+    # we have decided to create a new instance per worker thread which
+    # will be lazy created on the first call to `#filter`
+    #
+    # I am adding a simple test case for future changes
+    it "uses a different connection object per thread wait" do
+      expect(plugin.clients_pool.size).to eq(0)
+
+      Thread.new { plugin.filter(event) }.join
+      Thread.new { plugin.filter(event) }.join
+
+      expect(plugin.clients_pool.size).to eq(2)
+    end
+
     it "should enhance the current event with new data" do
       plugin.filter(event)
       expect(event.get("code")).to eq(404)