diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/TransportNodesListShardStoreMetaData.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/TransportNodesListShardStoreMetaData.java
index add27eac68af8..1ad52605bf97e 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/TransportNodesListShardStoreMetaData.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/TransportNodesListShardStoreMetaData.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.indices.store;
 
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.message.ParameterizedMessage;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.FailedNodeException;
@@ -125,8 +126,17 @@ private StoreFilesMetaData listStoreMetaData(ShardId shardId) throws IOException
             if (indexService != null) {
                 IndexShard indexShard = indexService.getShardOrNull(shardId.id());
                 if (indexShard != null) {
-                    exists = true;
-                    return new StoreFilesMetaData(shardId, indexShard.snapshotStoreMetadata());
+                    try {
+                        final StoreFilesMetaData storeFilesMetaData = new StoreFilesMetaData(shardId, indexShard.snapshotStoreMetadata());
+                        exists = true;
+                        return storeFilesMetaData;
+                    } catch (org.apache.lucene.index.IndexNotFoundException e) {
+                        logger.trace(new ParameterizedMessage("[{}] node is missing index, responding with empty", shardId), e);
+                        return new StoreFilesMetaData(shardId, Store.MetadataSnapshot.EMPTY);
+                    } catch (IOException e) {
+                        logger.warn(new ParameterizedMessage("[{}] can't read metadata from store, responding with empty", shardId), e);
+                        return new StoreFilesMetaData(shardId, Store.MetadataSnapshot.EMPTY);
+                    }
                 }
             }
             // try and see if we an list unallocated
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/IndexRecoveryIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/IndexRecoveryIT.java
index 9b2bacdd7fb4c..88019e9f452d1 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/IndexRecoveryIT.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/IndexRecoveryIT.java
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+import java.util.concurrent.Semaphore;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.lessThanOrEqualTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 
 @ClusterScope(scope = Scope.TEST, numDataNodes = 0)
 public class IndexRecoveryIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
@@ -789,4 +791,48 @@ public void sendRequest(Transport.Connection connection, long requestId, String
             assertHitCount(client().prepareSearch(indexName).get(), numDocs);
         }
     }
+
+    /** Makes sure the new master does not repeatedly fetch index metadata from recovering replicas */
+    public void testOngoingRecoveryAndMasterFailOver() throws Exception {
+        String indexName = "test";
+        internalCluster().startNodes(2);
+        String nodeWithPrimary = internalCluster().startDataOnlyNode();
+        assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareCreate(indexName)
+            .setSettings(Settings.builder()
+                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
+                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
+                .put("index.routing.allocation.include._name", nodeWithPrimary)));
+        MockTransportService transport = (MockTransportService) internalCluster().getInstance(TransportService.class, nodeWithPrimary);
+        CountDownLatch phase1ReadyBlocked = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        CountDownLatch allowToCompletePhase1Latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        Semaphore blockRecovery = new Semaphore(1);
+        transport.addSendBehavior((connection, requestId, action, request, options) -> {
+            if (PeerRecoveryTargetService.Actions.CLEAN_FILES.equals(action) && blockRecovery.tryAcquire()) {
+                phase1ReadyBlocked.countDown();
+                try {
+                    allowToCompletePhase1Latch.await();
+                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                    throw new AssertionError(e);
+                }
+            }
+            connection.sendRequest(requestId, action, request, options);
+        });
+        try {
+            String nodeWithReplica = internalCluster().startDataOnlyNode();
+            assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareUpdateSettings(indexName).setSettings(Settings.builder()
+                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 1)
+                .put("index.routing.allocation.include._name", nodeWithPrimary + "," + nodeWithReplica)));
+            phase1ReadyBlocked.await();
+            internalCluster().restartNode(clusterService().state().nodes().getMasterNode().getName(),
+                new InternalTestCluster.RestartCallback());
+            internalCluster().ensureAtLeastNumDataNodes(3);
+            assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareUpdateSettings(indexName).setSettings(Settings.builder()
+                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 2)
+                .putNull("index.routing.allocation.include._name")));
+            assertFalse(client().admin().cluster().prepareHealth(indexName).setWaitForActiveShards(2).get().isTimedOut());
+        } finally {
+            allowToCompletePhase1Latch.countDown();
+        }
+        ensureGreen(indexName);
+    }
 }