diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a79410c..a116986 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,11 +26,6 @@ Based on the official images:
 2. Install [Docker-compose](http://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) **version >= 1.6**.
 3. Clone this repository
 
-## Increase `vm.max_map_count` on your host
-
-You need to increase the `vm.max_map_count` kernel setting on your Docker host.
-To do this follow the recommended instructions from the Elastic documentation: [Install Elasticsearch with Docker](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/docker.html#docker-cli-run-prod-mode)
-
 ## SELinux
 
 On distributions which have SELinux enabled out-of-the-box you will need to either re-context the files or set SELinux into Permissive mode in order for docker-elk to start properly.
@@ -108,25 +103,7 @@ In the above example the folder `logstash/config` is mapped onto the container `
 
 ## How can I tune Elasticsearch configuration?
 
-The Elasticsearch container is using the [shipped configuration](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-docker/blob/master/build/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml).
-
-If you want to override the default configuration, create a file `elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml` and add your configuration in it.
-
-Then, you'll need to map your configuration file inside the container in the `docker-compose.yml`. Update the elasticsearch container declaration to:
-
-```yml
-elasticsearch:
-  build: elasticsearch/
-  ports:
-    - "9200:9200"
-    - "9300:9300"
-  environment:
-    ES_JAVA_OPTS: "-Xmx256m -Xms256m"
-  networks:
-    - elk
-  volumes:
-    - ./elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml:/usr/share/elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml
-```
+The Elasticsearch configuration is stored in `elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml`.
 
 You can also specify the options you want to override directly via environment variables:
 
@@ -196,7 +173,7 @@ The startup scripts for Elasticsearch and Logstash can append extra JVM options
 | Elasticsearch | ES_JAVA_OPTS         |
 | Logstash      | LS_JAVA_OPTS         |
 
-To accomodate environments where memory is scarce (Docker for Mac has only 2 GB available by default), the Heap Size allocation is capped by default to 256MB per service within the `docker-compose.yml` file. If you want to override the default JVM configuration, edit the matching environment variable(s) in the `docker-compose.yml` file.
+To accomodate environments where memory is scarce (Docker for Mac has only 2 GB available by default), the Heap Size allocation is capped by default to 256MB per service in the `docker-compose.yml` file. If you want to override the default JVM configuration, edit the matching environment variable(s) in the `docker-compose.yml` file.
 
 For example, to increase the maximum JVM Heap Size for Logstash:
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 5a1f04e..2cd71fd 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -4,19 +4,13 @@ services:
 
   elasticsearch:
     build: elasticsearch/
+    volumes:
+      - ./elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml:/usr/share/elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml
     ports:
       - "9200:9200"
       - "9300:9300"
     environment:
       ES_JAVA_OPTS: "-Xmx256m -Xms256m"
-      # disable X-Pack
-      # see https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/x-pack/current/xpack-settings.html
-      #     https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/x-pack/current/installing-xpack.html#xpack-enabling
-      xpack.security.enabled: "false"
-      xpack.monitoring.enabled: "false"
-      xpack.ml.enabled: "false"
-      xpack.graph.enabled: "false"
-      xpack.watcher.enabled: "false"
     networks:
       - elk
 
diff --git a/elasticsearch/config/.placeholder b/elasticsearch/config/.placeholder
deleted file mode 100644
index 9ad2662..0000000
--- a/elasticsearch/config/.placeholder
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Ensure the existence of the parent folder.
diff --git a/elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml b/elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3f96bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elasticsearch/config/elasticsearch.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+---
+## Default Elasticsearch configuration from elasticsearch-docker.
+## from https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-docker/blob/master/build/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml
+#
+cluster.name: "docker-cluster"
+network.host: 0.0.0.0
+
+# minimum_master_nodes need to be explicitly set when bound on a public IP
+# set to 1 to allow single node clusters
+# Details: https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/pull/17288
+discovery.zen.minimum_master_nodes: 1
+
+## Use single node discovery in order to disable production mode and avoid bootstrap checks
+## see https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/bootstrap-checks.html
+#
+discovery.type: single-node
+
+## Disable X-Pack
+## see https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/x-pack/current/xpack-settings.html
+##     https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/x-pack/current/installing-xpack.html#xpack-enabling
+#
+xpack.security.enabled: false
+xpack.monitoring.enabled: false
+xpack.ml.enabled: false
+xpack.graph.enabled: false
+xpack.watcher.enabled: false