diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/ESRestTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/ESRestTestCase.java
index 35902f80f8469..de40f325b8f87 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/ESRestTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/ESRestTestCase.java
@@ -292,6 +292,7 @@ protected HttpHost buildHttpHost(String host, int port) {
     @After
     public final void cleanUpCluster() throws Exception {
         if (preserveClusterUponCompletion() == false) {
+            ensureNoInitializingShards();
             wipeCluster();
             waitForClusterStateUpdatesToFinish();
             logIfThereAreRunningTasks();
@@ -806,7 +807,7 @@ protected static void ensureNoInitializingShards() throws IOException {
         request.addParameter("wait_for_no_initializing_shards", "true");
         request.addParameter("timeout", "70s");
         request.addParameter("level", "shards");
-        client().performRequest(request);
+        adminClient().performRequest(request);
     }
 
     protected static void createIndex(String name, Settings settings) throws IOException {