diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/README.md b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/README.md
index b678f3e8f025d..f6e94c7c62c49 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/README.md
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/README.md
@@ -37,6 +37,17 @@ const devDomain = new es.Domain(this, 'Domain', {
 });
 ```
 
+To perform version upgrades without replacing the entire domain, specify the `enableVersionUpgrade` property.
+
+```ts
+import * as es from '@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch';
+
+const devDomain = new es.Domain(this, 'Domain', {
+    version: es.ElasticsearchVersion.V7_9,
+    enableVersionUpgrade: true // defaults to false
+});
+```
+
 Create a production grade cluster by also specifying things like capacity and az distribution
 
 ```ts
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/lib/domain.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/lib/domain.ts
index c6880e74c00ba..477edb5106a79 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/lib/domain.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/lib/domain.ts
@@ -517,6 +517,16 @@ export interface DomainProps {
    * @default - false
    */
   readonly useUnsignedBasicAuth?: boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * To upgrade an Amazon ES domain to a new version of Elasticsearch rather than replacing the entire
+   * domain resource, use the EnableVersionUpgrade update policy.
+   *
+   * @see https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-attribute-updatepolicy.html#cfn-attributes-updatepolicy-upgradeelasticsearchdomain
+   * @default - false
+   */
+  readonly enableVersionUpgrade?: boolean;
+
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1541,6 +1551,13 @@ export class Domain extends DomainBase implements IDomain {
         : undefined,
     });
 
+    if (props.enableVersionUpgrade) {
+      this.domain.cfnOptions.updatePolicy = {
+        ...this.domain.cfnOptions.updatePolicy,
+        enableVersionUpgrade: props.enableVersionUpgrade,
+      };
+    }
+
     if (logGroupResourcePolicy) { this.domain.node.addDependency(logGroupResourcePolicy); }
 
     if (props.domainName) { this.node.addMetadata('aws:cdk:hasPhysicalName', props.domainName); }
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/test/domain.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/test/domain.test.ts
index c257a616506c3..ccce4e0860c5c 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/test/domain.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-elasticsearch/test/domain.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+/* eslint-disable jest/expect-expect */
 import '@aws-cdk/assert/jest';
+import { ResourcePart } from '@aws-cdk/assert';
 import { Metric, Statistic } from '@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch';
 import { Subnet, Vpc, EbsDeviceVolumeType } from '@aws-cdk/aws-ec2';
 import * as iam from '@aws-cdk/aws-iam';
@@ -67,6 +69,19 @@ test('minimal example renders correctly', () => {
   });
 });
 
+test('can enable version upgrade update policy', () => {
+  new Domain(stack, 'Domain', {
+    version: ElasticsearchVersion.V7_1,
+    enableVersionUpgrade: true,
+  });
+
+  expect(stack).toHaveResource('AWS::Elasticsearch::Domain', {
+    UpdatePolicy: {
+      EnableVersionUpgrade: true,
+    },
+  }, ResourcePart.CompleteDefinition);
+});
+
 describe('log groups', () => {
 
   test('slowSearchLogEnabled should create a custom log group', () => {