diff --git a/.eslintrc b/.eslintrc
index 0c62c27620e34..136ac914a8792 100644
--- a/.eslintrc
+++ b/.eslintrc
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 ---
+parser: babel-eslint
+
 env:
   es6: true
   amd: true
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fbf3f9f5f4cd7..e58417f780064 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "auto-release-sinon": "^1.0.3",
+    "babel-eslint": "^4.0.5",
     "eslint": "^1.0.0",
     "expect.js": "^0.3.1",
     "faker": "^1.1.0",
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/public/visualize/editor/editor.js b/src/plugins/kibana/public/visualize/editor/editor.js
index 9de499ec65409..963dfbccda0c1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana/public/visualize/editor/editor.js
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/public/visualize/editor/editor.js
@@ -133,11 +133,11 @@ define(function (require) {
           $scope.responseValueAggs = editableVis.aggs.getResponseAggs().filter(function (agg) {
             return _.get(agg, 'schema.group') === 'metrics';
           });
-        } catch (e) {
-          // this can fail when the agg.type is changed but the
-          // params have not been set yet. watcher will trigger again
-          // when the params update
         }
+        // this can fail when the agg.type is changed but the
+        // params have not been set yet. watcher will trigger again
+        // when the params update
+        catch (e) {} // eslint-disable-line no-empty
       }, true);
 
       $state.replace();
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/public/visualize/saved_visualizations/saved_visualizations.js b/src/plugins/kibana/public/visualize/saved_visualizations/saved_visualizations.js
index 45bf73e286d6e..d2ea77ace4712 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana/public/visualize/saved_visualizations/saved_visualizations.js
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/public/visualize/saved_visualizations/saved_visualizations.js
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ define(function (require) {
             var typeName = source.typeName;
             if (source.visState) {
               try { typeName = JSON.parse(source.visState).type; }
-              catch (e) { /* missing typename handled below */ }
+              catch (e) { /* missing typename handled below */ } // eslint-disable-line no-empty
             }
 
             if (!typeName || !visTypes.byName[typeName]) {
diff --git a/src/ui/public/utils/query_string.js b/src/ui/public/utils/query_string.js
index 2c181fdbc4811..02274179e4ca9 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/utils/query_string.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/utils/query_string.js
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ define(function (require) {
   function tryDecodeURIComponent(value) {
     try {
       return decodeURIComponent(value);
-    } catch (e) {
-      // Ignore any invalid uri component
     }
+    // Ignore any invalid uri component
+    catch (e) {} // eslint-disable-line no-empty
   }
 
   /**