diff --git a/app/models/application.rb b/app/models/application.rb
index 19c649e19..0e07c3195 100644
--- a/app/models/application.rb
+++ b/app/models/application.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@ class Application < ApplicationRecord
   def search_data
     # lat and lon need to be symbols (rather than strings) in search_data
     # to get valid data come through searchkick for some reason
-    attributes.symbolize_keys.merge(location: { lat:, lon: lng })
+    r = attributes.symbolize_keys.merge(location: { lat:, lon: lng })
+    # lonlat is encoded geo data and elasticsearch is unhappy to index this. So skip it.
+    # We're capturing the geodata anyway via the "location" key
+    r.delete(:lonlat)
+    r
   end
 
   # For the benefit of kaminari. Also sets the maximum number of
diff --git a/spec/models/application_spec.rb b/spec/models/application_spec.rb
index 817c63156..70fe77480 100644
--- a/spec/models/application_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/application_spec.rb
@@ -213,4 +213,10 @@
       it { expect(application.official_submission_period_expired?).to be false }
     end
   end
+
+  describe "#search_data" do
+    it "does not try indexing the geo data directly because elasticsearch can't handle this" do
+      expect(create(:geocoded_application).search_data).not_to have_key(:lonlat)
+    end
+  end
 end