diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicy.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicy.java
index afc4cca0531d9..e383c533bf83b 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicy.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicy.java
@@ -168,8 +168,10 @@ synchronized IndexCommit acquireIndexCommit(boolean acquiringSafeCommit) {
 
     /**
      * Releases an index commit that acquired by {@link #acquireIndexCommit(boolean)}.
+     *
+     * @return true if the snapshotting commit can be clean up.
      */
-    synchronized void releaseCommit(final IndexCommit snapshotCommit) {
+    synchronized boolean releaseCommit(final IndexCommit snapshotCommit) {
         final IndexCommit releasingCommit = ((SnapshotIndexCommit) snapshotCommit).delegate;
         assert snapshottedCommits.containsKey(releasingCommit) : "Release non-snapshotted commit;" +
             "snapshotted commits [" + snapshottedCommits + "], releasing commit [" + releasingCommit + "]";
@@ -178,6 +180,8 @@ synchronized void releaseCommit(final IndexCommit snapshotCommit) {
         if (refCount == 0) {
             snapshottedCommits.remove(releasingCommit);
         }
+        // The commit can be clean up only if no pending snapshot and it is neither the safe commit nor last commit.
+        return refCount == 0 && releasingCommit.equals(safeCommit) == false && releasingCommit.equals(lastCommit) == false;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
index eee4f69a9a514..a33fac944dee7 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
@@ -1769,13 +1769,21 @@ public IndexCommitRef acquireLastIndexCommit(final boolean flushFirst) throws En
             logger.trace("finish flush for snapshot");
         }
         final IndexCommit lastCommit = combinedDeletionPolicy.acquireIndexCommit(false);
-        return new Engine.IndexCommitRef(lastCommit, () -> combinedDeletionPolicy.releaseCommit(lastCommit));
+        return new Engine.IndexCommitRef(lastCommit, () -> releaseIndexCommit(lastCommit));
     }
 
     @Override
     public IndexCommitRef acquireSafeIndexCommit() throws EngineException {
         final IndexCommit safeCommit = combinedDeletionPolicy.acquireIndexCommit(true);
-        return new Engine.IndexCommitRef(safeCommit, () -> combinedDeletionPolicy.releaseCommit(safeCommit));
+        return new Engine.IndexCommitRef(safeCommit, () -> releaseIndexCommit(safeCommit));
+    }
+
+    private void releaseIndexCommit(IndexCommit snapshot) throws IOException {
+        // Revisit the deletion policy if we can clean up the snapshotting commit.
+        if (combinedDeletionPolicy.releaseCommit(snapshot)) {
+            ensureOpen();
+            indexWriter.deleteUnusedFiles();
+        }
     }
 
     private boolean failOnTragicEvent(AlreadyClosedException ex) {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicyTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicyTests.java
index 8e79859275070..3cf8d767501d2 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicyTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicyTests.java
@@ -132,10 +132,15 @@ public void testAcquireIndexCommit() throws Exception {
                     assertThat(snapshot.getUserData(), equalTo(commitList.get(commitList.size() - 1).getUserData()));
                 }
             }
-            randomSubsetOf(snapshottingCommits).forEach(snapshot -> {
+            final List<IndexCommit> releasingSnapshots = randomSubsetOf(snapshottingCommits);
+            for (IndexCommit snapshot : releasingSnapshots) {
                 snapshottingCommits.remove(snapshot);
-                indexPolicy.releaseCommit(snapshot);
-            });
+                final long pendingSnapshots = snapshottingCommits.stream().filter(snapshot::equals).count();
+                final IndexCommit lastCommit = commitList.get(commitList.size() - 1);
+                final IndexCommit safeCommit = CombinedDeletionPolicy.findSafeCommitPoint(commitList, globalCheckpoint.get());
+                assertThat(indexPolicy.releaseCommit(snapshot),
+                    equalTo(pendingSnapshots == 0 && snapshot.equals(lastCommit) == false && snapshot.equals(safeCommit) == false));
+            }
             // Snapshotting commits must not be deleted.
             snapshottingCommits.forEach(snapshot -> assertThat(snapshot.isDeleted(), equalTo(false)));
             // We don't need to retain translog for snapshotting commits.
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
index e51a67f10c05c..f115ee8c58d76 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
@@ -2097,9 +2097,9 @@ public void testSeqNoAndCheckpoints() throws IOException {
     // this test writes documents to the engine while concurrently flushing/commit
     // and ensuring that the commit points contain the correct sequence number data
     public void testConcurrentWritesAndCommits() throws Exception {
-        List<Engine.IndexCommitRef> commits = new ArrayList<>();
         try (Store store = createStore();
              InternalEngine engine = new InternalEngine(config(defaultSettings, store, createTempDir(), newMergePolicy(), null))) {
+            final List<Engine.IndexCommitRef> commits = new ArrayList<>();
 
             final int numIndexingThreads = scaledRandomIntBetween(2, 4);
             final int numDocsPerThread = randomIntBetween(500, 1000);
@@ -2184,8 +2184,6 @@ public void testConcurrentWritesAndCommits() throws Exception {
                 prevLocalCheckpoint = localCheckpoint;
                 prevMaxSeqNo = maxSeqNo;
             }
-        } finally {
-            IOUtils.close(commits);
         }
     }
 
@@ -4474,6 +4472,37 @@ public void testCleanUpCommitsWhenGlobalCheckpointAdvanced() throws Exception {
         }
     }
 
+    public void testCleanupCommitsWhenReleaseSnapshot() throws Exception {
+        IOUtils.close(engine, store);
+        store = createStore();
+        final AtomicLong globalCheckpoint = new AtomicLong(SequenceNumbers.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO);
+        try (InternalEngine engine = createEngine(store, createTempDir(), globalCheckpoint::get)) {
+            final int numDocs = scaledRandomIntBetween(10, 100);
+            for (int docId = 0; docId < numDocs; docId++) {
+                index(engine, docId);
+                if (frequently()) {
+                    engine.flush(randomBoolean(), randomBoolean());
+                }
+            }
+            engine.flush(false, randomBoolean());
+            int numSnapshots = between(1, 10);
+            final List<Engine.IndexCommitRef> snapshots = new ArrayList<>();
+            for (int i = 0; i < numSnapshots; i++) {
+                snapshots.add(engine.acquireSafeIndexCommit()); // taking snapshots from the safe commit.
+            }
+            globalCheckpoint.set(engine.getLocalCheckpointTracker().getCheckpoint());
+            engine.syncTranslog();
+            final List<IndexCommit> commits = DirectoryReader.listCommits(store.directory());
+            for (int i = 0; i < numSnapshots - 1; i++) {
+                snapshots.get(i).close();
+                // pending snapshots - should not release any commit.
+                assertThat(DirectoryReader.listCommits(store.directory()), equalTo(commits));
+            }
+            snapshots.get(numSnapshots - 1).close(); // release the last snapshot - delete all except the last commit
+            assertThat(DirectoryReader.listCommits(store.directory()), hasSize(1));
+        }
+    }
+
     public void testShouldPeriodicallyFlush() throws Exception {
         assertThat("Empty engine does not need flushing", engine.shouldPeriodicallyFlush(), equalTo(false));
         int numDocs = between(10, 100);