diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 03bf3e789de6a0..6e6ad0f3a34e1d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ _Note: The version numbers below are only examples, meant to illustrate the rela
 | ES patch number is newer. | 5.1.__2__                  | 5.1.__5__          | ⚠️ Logged warning      |
 | ES minor number is newer. | 5.__1__.2                  | 5.__5__.0          | ⚠️ Logged warning      |
 | ES major number is newer. | __5__.1.2                  | __6__.0.0          | 🚫 Fatal error      |
-| ES patch number is older. | 5.1.__2__                  | 5.1.__0__          | 🚫 Fatal error      |
+| ES patch number is older. | 5.1.__2__                  | 5.1.__0__          | ⚠️ Logged warning      |
 | ES minor number is older. | 5.__1__.2                  | 5.__0__.0          | 🚫 Fatal error      |
 | ES major number is older. | __5__.1.2                  | __4__.0.0          | 🚫 Fatal error      |
 
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/__tests__/is_es_compatible_with_kibana.js b/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/__tests__/is_es_compatible_with_kibana.js
index 6445f3245168bc..d8b76e14d7d45d 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/__tests__/is_es_compatible_with_kibana.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/__tests__/is_es_compatible_with_kibana.js
@@ -17,10 +17,6 @@ describe('plugins/elasticsearch', () => {
       it('when majors are equal, but ES minor is less than Kibana minor', () => {
         expect(isEsCompatibleWithKibana('1.0.0', '1.1.0')).to.be(false);
       });
-
-      it('when majors and minors are equal, but ES patch is less than Kibana patch', () => {
-        expect(isEsCompatibleWithKibana('1.1.0', '1.1.1')).to.be(false);
-      });
     });
 
     describe('returns true', () => {
@@ -35,6 +31,10 @@ describe('plugins/elasticsearch', () => {
       it('when majors and minors are equal, and ES patch is greater than Kibana patch', () => {
         expect(isEsCompatibleWithKibana('1.1.1', '1.1.0')).to.be(true);
       });
+
+      it('when majors and minors are equal, but ES patch is less than Kibana patch', () => {
+        expect(isEsCompatibleWithKibana('1.1.0', '1.1.1')).to.be(true);
+      });
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/check_es_version.js b/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/check_es_version.js
index 463f512666ef12..2a6dba1ea957d2 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/check_es_version.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/check_es_version.js
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 
 import _ from 'lodash';
 import esBool from './es_bool';
-import semver from 'semver';
 import isEsCompatibleWithKibana from './is_es_compatible_with_kibana';
 
 /**
@@ -37,9 +36,9 @@ module.exports = function checkEsVersion(server, kibanaVersion) {
         return incompatibleNodes.push(esNode);
       }
 
-      // It's acceptable if ES is ahead of Kibana, but we want to prompt users to upgrade Kibana
-      // to match it.
-      if (semver.gt(esNode.version, kibanaVersion)) {
+      // It's acceptable if ES and Kibana versions are not the same so long as
+      // they are not incompatible, but we should warn about it
+      if (esNode.version !== kibanaVersion) {
         warningNodes.push(esNode);
       }
     });
@@ -65,9 +64,9 @@ module.exports = function checkEsVersion(server, kibanaVersion) {
         lastWarnedNodesForServer.set(server, warningNodeNames);
         server.log(['warning'], {
           tmpl: (
-            `You're running Kibana ${kibanaVersion} with some newer versions of ` +
-            'Elasticsearch. Update Kibana to the latest version to prevent compatibility issues: ' +
-            warningNodeNames
+            `You're running Kibana ${kibanaVersion} with some different versions of ` +
+            'Elasticsearch. Update Kibana or Elasticsearch to the same ' +
+            `version to prevent compatibility issues: ${warningNodeNames}`
           ),
           kibanaVersion,
           nodes: simplifiedNodes,
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/is_es_compatible_with_kibana.js b/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/is_es_compatible_with_kibana.js
index 21bec63869e5a5..954e25033ee002 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/is_es_compatible_with_kibana.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/is_es_compatible_with_kibana.js
@@ -29,10 +29,5 @@ export default function isEsCompatibleWithKibana(esVersion, kibanaVersion) {
     return false;
   }
 
-  // Reject older patch versions of ES.
-  if (esVersionNumbers.patch < kibanaVersionNumbers.patch) {
-    return false;
-  }
-
   return true;
 }