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 292467ccd7fe0..48082f1ed86ab 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
@@ -597,7 +597,11 @@ public void onFailure(Exception e) {
                                         if (state == IndexShardState.CLOSED) {
                                             // ignore, shutting down
                                         } else {
-                                            failShard("exception during primary-replica resync", e);
+                                            try {
+                                                failShard("exception during primary-replica resync", e);
+                                            } catch (AlreadyClosedException ace) {
+                                                // okay, the index was deleted
+                                            }
                                         }
                                     }
                                 });