diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkAction.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkAction.java
index 4df8efa6b2743..3f4a0b6042a4c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkAction.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkAction.java
@@ -483,26 +483,16 @@ private static <T extends Engine.Result> void executeOnPrimaryWhileHandlingMappi
         throws IOException {
         T result = toExecute.get();
         if (result.getResultType() == Engine.Result.Type.MAPPING_UPDATE_REQUIRED) {
-            // try to update the mappings and try again.
+            // try to update the mappings and mark the context as needing to try again.
             try {
                 mappingUpdater.accept(result.getRequiredMappingUpdate());
+                context.markAsRequiringMappingUpdate();
             } catch (Exception e) {
                 // failure to update the mapping should translate to a failure of specific requests. Other requests
                 // still need to be executed and replicated.
                 onComplete.accept(exceptionToResult.apply(e));
                 return;
             }
-
-            // TODO - we can fall back to a wait for cluster state update but I'm keeping the logic the same for now
-            result = toExecute.get();
-
-            if (result.getResultType() == Engine.Result.Type.MAPPING_UPDATE_REQUIRED) {
-                // double mapping update. We assume that the successful mapping update wasn't yet processed on the node
-                // and retry the entire request again.
-                context.markAsRequiringMappingUpdate();
-            } else {
-                onComplete.accept(result);
-            }
         } else {
             onComplete.accept(result);
         }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkActionTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkActionTests.java
index 37e82884c5133..aa4a4b070e40c 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkActionTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/TransportShardBulkActionTests.java
@@ -285,8 +285,8 @@ public void testExecuteBulkIndexRequestWithMappingUpdates() throws Exception {
 
         assertThat("mappings were \"updated\" once", updateCalled.get(), equalTo(1));
 
-        // Verify that the shard "executed" the operation twice
-        verify(shard, times(2)).applyIndexOperationOnPrimary(anyLong(), any(), any(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyBoolean());
+        // Verify that the shard "executed" the operation once
+        verify(shard, times(1)).applyIndexOperationOnPrimary(anyLong(), any(), any(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyBoolean());
 
         when(shard.applyIndexOperationOnPrimary(anyLong(), any(), any(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyBoolean()))
             .thenReturn(success);
@@ -295,9 +295,9 @@ public void testExecuteBulkIndexRequestWithMappingUpdates() throws Exception {
             (update, shardId, type) -> fail("should not have had to update the mappings"), () -> {});
 
 
-        // Verify that the shard "executed" the operation only once (2 for previous invocations plus
+        // Verify that the shard "executed" the operation only once (1 for previous invocations plus
         // 1 for this execution)
-        verify(shard, times(3)).applyIndexOperationOnPrimary(anyLong(), any(), any(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyBoolean());
+        verify(shard, times(2)).applyIndexOperationOnPrimary(anyLong(), any(), any(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyLong(), anyBoolean());
 
 
         BulkItemResponse primaryResponse = bulkShardRequest.items()[0].getPrimaryResponse();