diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
index da5ee8f8363ff..fdd95614756b7 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
@@ -2136,8 +2136,8 @@ public void maybeSyncGlobalCheckpoint(final String reason) {
                     StreamSupport
                             .stream(globalCheckpoints.values().spliterator(), false)
                             .anyMatch(v -> v.value < globalCheckpoint);
-            // only sync if there is a shard lagging the primary
-            if (syncNeeded) {
+            // only sync if index is not closed and there is a shard lagging the primary
+            if (syncNeeded && indexSettings.getIndexMetaData().getState() == IndexMetaData.State.OPEN) {
                 logger.trace("syncing global checkpoint for [{}]", reason);
                 globalCheckpointSyncer.run();
             }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
index 64886af18332a..04ef68852cc3f 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
@@ -1140,6 +1140,33 @@ public void testGlobalCheckpointSync() throws IOException {
         closeShards(replicaShard, primaryShard);
     }
 
+    public void testClosedIndicesSkipSyncGlobalCheckpoint() throws Exception {
+        ShardId shardId = new ShardId("index", "_na_", 0);
+        IndexMetaData.Builder indexMetadata = IndexMetaData.builder("index")
+            .settings(Settings.builder().put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT)
+                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1).put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 2))
+            .state(IndexMetaData.State.CLOSE).primaryTerm(0, 1);
+        ShardRouting shardRouting = TestShardRouting.newShardRouting(shardId, randomAlphaOfLength(8), true,
+            ShardRoutingState.INITIALIZING, RecoverySource.EmptyStoreRecoverySource.INSTANCE);
+        AtomicBoolean synced = new AtomicBoolean();
+        IndexShard primaryShard = newShard(shardRouting, indexMetadata.build(), null, new InternalEngineFactory(),
+            () -> synced.set(true), RetentionLeaseSyncer.EMPTY);
+        recoverShardFromStore(primaryShard);
+        IndexShard replicaShard = newShard(shardId, false);
+        recoverReplica(replicaShard, primaryShard, true);
+        int numDocs = between(1, 10);
+        for (int i = 0; i < numDocs; i++) {
+            indexDoc(primaryShard, "_doc", Integer.toString(i));
+        }
+        assertThat(primaryShard.getLocalCheckpoint(), equalTo(numDocs - 1L));
+        primaryShard.updateLocalCheckpointForShard(replicaShard.shardRouting.allocationId().getId(), primaryShard.getLocalCheckpoint());
+        long globalCheckpointOnReplica = randomLongBetween(SequenceNumbers.NO_OPS_PERFORMED, primaryShard.getLocalCheckpoint());
+        primaryShard.updateGlobalCheckpointForShard(replicaShard.shardRouting.allocationId().getId(), globalCheckpointOnReplica);
+        primaryShard.maybeSyncGlobalCheckpoint("test");
+        assertFalse("closed indices should skip global checkpoint sync", synced.get());
+        closeShards(primaryShard, replicaShard);
+    }
+
     public void testRestoreLocalHistoryFromTranslogOnPromotion() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
         final IndexShard indexShard = newStartedShard(false);
         final int operations = 1024 - scaledRandomIntBetween(0, 1024);
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/state/CloseIndexIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/state/CloseIndexIT.java
index 740034f12ecc5..6f666483b18d0 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/state/CloseIndexIT.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/state/CloseIndexIT.java
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.set.Sets;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexNotFoundException;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.IndexShard;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndexClosedException;
+import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesService;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.recovery.RecoveryState;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.BackgroundIndexer;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase;
@@ -421,6 +423,31 @@ public Settings onNodeStopped(String nodeName) throws Exception {
         }
     }
 
+    public void testResyncPropagatePrimaryTerm() throws Exception {
+        internalCluster().ensureAtLeastNumDataNodes(3);
+        final String indexName = "closed_indices_promotion";
+        createIndex(indexName, Settings.builder()
+            .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
+            .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 2)
+            .build());
+        indexRandom(randomBoolean(), randomBoolean(), randomBoolean(), IntStream.range(0, randomIntBetween(0, 50))
+            .mapToObj(n -> client().prepareIndex(indexName, "_doc").setSource("num", n)).collect(toList()));
+        ensureGreen(indexName);
+        assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareClose(indexName));
+        assertIndexIsClosed(indexName);
+        ensureGreen(indexName);
+        String nodeWithPrimary = clusterService().state().nodes().get(clusterService().state()
+            .routingTable().index(indexName).shard(0).primaryShard().currentNodeId()).getName();
+        internalCluster().restartNode(nodeWithPrimary, new InternalTestCluster.RestartCallback());
+        ensureGreen(indexName);
+        long primaryTerm = clusterService().state().metaData().index(indexName).primaryTerm(0);
+        for (String nodeName : internalCluster().nodesInclude(indexName)) {
+            IndexShard shard = internalCluster().getInstance(IndicesService.class, nodeName)
+                .indexService(resolveIndex(indexName)).getShard(0);
+            assertThat(shard.routingEntry().toString(), shard.getOperationPrimaryTerm(), equalTo(primaryTerm));
+        }
+    }
+
     static void assertIndexIsClosed(final String... indices) {
         final ClusterState clusterState = client().admin().cluster().prepareState().get().getState();
         for (String index : indices) {