diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index b08891a10ff..17103d1b541 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v7.0.0-alpha2...master[Check the HEAD d
 - Fixing `ingress_controller.` fields to be of type keyword instead of text. {issue}17834[17834]
 - Fixed typo in log message. {pull}17897[17897]
 - Fix S3 input to trim delimiter /n from each log line. {pull}19972[19972]
+- Fix s3 input parsing json file without expand_event_list_from_field. {issue}19902[19902] {pull}19962[19962]
 
 *Heartbeat*
 
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/s3/input.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/s3/input.go
index e74800ae127..15f9384b7cf 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/s3/input.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/s3/input.go
@@ -455,17 +455,10 @@ func (p *s3Input) createEventsFromS3Info(svc s3iface.ClientAPI, info s3Info, s3C
 		gzipReader.Close()
 	}
 
-	// Check if expand_event_list_from_field is given with document content-type = "application/json"
-	if resp.ContentType != nil && *resp.ContentType == "application/json" && p.config.ExpandEventListFromField == "" {
-		err := errors.New("expand_event_list_from_field parameter is missing in config for application/json content-type file")
-		p.logger.Error(err)
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// Decode JSON documents when expand_event_list_from_field is given in config
-	if p.config.ExpandEventListFromField != "" {
+	// Decode JSON documents when content-type is "application/json" or expand_event_list_from_field is given in config
+	if resp.ContentType != nil && *resp.ContentType == "application/json" || p.config.ExpandEventListFromField != "" {
 		decoder := json.NewDecoder(reader)
-		err := p.decodeJSONWithKey(decoder, objectHash, info, s3Ctx)
+		err := p.decodeJSON(decoder, objectHash, info, s3Ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			err = errors.Wrapf(err, "decodeJSONWithKey failed for '%s' from S3 bucket '%s'", info.key, info.name)
 			p.logger.Error(err)
@@ -512,33 +505,20 @@ func (p *s3Input) createEventsFromS3Info(svc s3iface.ClientAPI, info s3Info, s3C
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (p *s3Input) decodeJSONWithKey(decoder *json.Decoder, objectHash string, s3Info s3Info, s3Ctx *s3Context) error {
+func (p *s3Input) decodeJSON(decoder *json.Decoder, objectHash string, s3Info s3Info, s3Ctx *s3Context) error {
 	offset := 0
 	for {
-		var jsonFields map[string][]interface{}
+		var jsonFields interface{}
 		err := decoder.Decode(&jsonFields)
 		if jsonFields == nil {
 			return nil
 		}
 
 		if err == io.EOF {
-			// create event for last line
-			// get logs from expand_event_list_from_field
-			textValues, ok := jsonFields[p.config.ExpandEventListFromField]
-			if !ok {
-				err = errors.Wrapf(err, "key '%s' not found", p.config.ExpandEventListFromField)
-				p.logger.Error(err)
+			offset, err = p.jsonFieldsType(jsonFields, offset, objectHash, s3Info, s3Ctx)
+			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-
-			for _, v := range textValues {
-				err := p.convertJSONToEvent(v, offset, objectHash, s3Info, s3Ctx)
-				if err != nil {
-					err = errors.Wrapf(err, "convertJSONToEvent failed for '%s' from S3 bucket '%s'", s3Info.key, s3Info.name)
-					p.logger.Error(err)
-					return err
-				}
-			}
 		} else if err != nil {
 			// decode json failed, skip this log file
 			err = errors.Wrapf(err, "decode json failed for '%s' from S3 bucket '%s', skipping this file", s3Info.key, s3Info.name)
@@ -546,25 +526,46 @@ func (p *s3Input) decodeJSONWithKey(decoder *json.Decoder, objectHash string, s3
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		textValues, ok := jsonFields[p.config.ExpandEventListFromField]
-		if !ok {
-			err = errors.Wrapf(err, "Key '%s' not found", p.config.ExpandEventListFromField)
-			p.logger.Error(err)
+		offset, err = p.jsonFieldsType(jsonFields, offset, objectHash, s3Info, s3Ctx)
+		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+	}
+}
 
-		for _, v := range textValues {
-			err := p.convertJSONToEvent(v, offset, objectHash, s3Info, s3Ctx)
-			if err != nil {
-				err = errors.Wrapf(err, "Key '%s' not found", p.config.ExpandEventListFromField)
+func (p *s3Input) jsonFieldsType(jsonFields interface{}, offset int, objectHash string, s3Info s3Info, s3Ctx *s3Context) (int, error) {
+	switch f := jsonFields.(type) {
+	case map[string][]interface{}:
+		if p.config.ExpandEventListFromField != "" {
+			textValues, ok := f[p.config.ExpandEventListFromField]
+			if !ok {
+				err := errors.Errorf("key '%s' not found", p.config.ExpandEventListFromField)
 				p.logger.Error(err)
-				return err
+				return offset, err
+			}
+			for _, v := range textValues {
+				offset, err := p.convertJSONToEvent(v, offset, objectHash, s3Info, s3Ctx)
+				if err != nil {
+					err = errors.Wrapf(err, "convertJSONToEvent failed for '%s' from S3 bucket '%s'", s3Info.key, s3Info.name)
+					p.logger.Error(err)
+					return offset, err
+				}
 			}
+			return offset, nil
+		}
+	case map[string]interface{}:
+		offset, err := p.convertJSONToEvent(f, offset, objectHash, s3Info, s3Ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			err = errors.Wrapf(err, "convertJSONToEvent failed for '%s' from S3 bucket '%s'", s3Info.key, s3Info.name)
+			p.logger.Error(err)
+			return offset, err
 		}
+		return offset, nil
 	}
+	return offset, nil
 }
 
-func (p *s3Input) convertJSONToEvent(jsonFields interface{}, offset int, objectHash string, s3Info s3Info, s3Ctx *s3Context) error {
+func (p *s3Input) convertJSONToEvent(jsonFields interface{}, offset int, objectHash string, s3Info s3Info, s3Ctx *s3Context) (int, error) {
 	vJSON, err := json.Marshal(jsonFields)
 	logOriginal := string(vJSON)
 	log := trimLogDelimiter(logOriginal)
@@ -575,9 +576,9 @@ func (p *s3Input) convertJSONToEvent(jsonFields interface{}, offset int, objectH
 	if err != nil {
 		err = errors.Wrap(err, "forwardEvent failed")
 		p.logger.Error(err)
-		return err
+		return offset, err
 	}
-	return nil
+	return offset, nil
 }
 
 func (p *s3Input) forwardEvent(event beat.Event) error {