diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/DiscoveryWithServiceDisruptionsIT.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/DiscoveryWithServiceDisruptionsIT.java
index 4a8700a9db1d9..65ead9c09f1d5 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/DiscoveryWithServiceDisruptionsIT.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/DiscoveryWithServiceDisruptionsIT.java
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ public void setDisruptionScheme(ServiceDisruptionScheme scheme) {
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected void beforeIndexDeletion() throws IOException {
+    protected void beforeIndexDeletion() throws Exception {
         if (disableBeforeIndexDeletion == false) {
             super.beforeIndexDeletion();
         }
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
index 82ae03af80dbb..859ad590cf9c2 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ protected Set<String> excludeTemplates() {
         return Collections.emptySet();
     }
 
-    protected void beforeIndexDeletion() throws IOException {
+    protected void beforeIndexDeletion() throws Exception {
         cluster().beforeIndexDeletion();
     }
 
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/InternalTestCluster.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/InternalTestCluster.java
index 0d19e03299af1..37e3a58295efb 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/InternalTestCluster.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/InternalTestCluster.java
@@ -1020,7 +1020,7 @@ public synchronized void afterTest() throws IOException {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void beforeIndexDeletion() throws IOException {
+    public void beforeIndexDeletion() throws Exception {
         // Check that the operations counter on index shard has reached 0.
         // The assumption here is that after a test there are no ongoing write operations.
         // test that have ongoing write operations after the test (for example because ttl is used
@@ -1055,33 +1055,40 @@ private void assertSameSyncIdSameDocs() {
         }
     }
 
-    private void assertShardIndexCounter() throws IOException {
-        final Collection<NodeAndClient> nodesAndClients = nodes.values();
-        for (NodeAndClient nodeAndClient : nodesAndClients) {
-            IndicesService indexServices = getInstance(IndicesService.class, nodeAndClient.name);
-            for (IndexService indexService : indexServices) {
-                for (IndexShard indexShard : indexService) {
-                    int activeOperationsCount = indexShard.getActiveOperationsCount();
-                    if (activeOperationsCount > 0) {
-                        TaskManager taskManager = getInstance(TransportService.class, nodeAndClient.name).getTaskManager();
-                        DiscoveryNode localNode = getInstance(ClusterService.class, nodeAndClient.name).localNode();
-                        List<TaskInfo> taskInfos = taskManager.getTasks().values().stream()
-                            .filter(task -> task instanceof ReplicationTask)
-                            .map(task -> task.taskInfo(localNode.getId(), true))
-                            .collect(Collectors.toList());
-                        ListTasksResponse response = new ListTasksResponse(taskInfos, Collections.emptyList(), Collections.emptyList());
-                        XContentBuilder builder = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder()
-                            .prettyPrint()
-                            .startObject()
-                            .value(response)
-                            .endObject();
-                        throw new AssertionError("expected index shard counter on shard " + indexShard.shardId() + " on node " +
-                            nodeAndClient.name + " to be 0 but was " + activeOperationsCount + ". Current replication tasks on node:\n" +
-                            builder.string());
+    private void assertShardIndexCounter() throws Exception {
+        assertBusy(() -> {
+            final Collection<NodeAndClient> nodesAndClients = nodes.values();
+            for (NodeAndClient nodeAndClient : nodesAndClients) {
+                IndicesService indexServices = getInstance(IndicesService.class, nodeAndClient.name);
+                for (IndexService indexService : indexServices) {
+                    for (IndexShard indexShard : indexService) {
+                        int activeOperationsCount = indexShard.getActiveOperationsCount();
+                        if (activeOperationsCount > 0) {
+                            TaskManager taskManager = getInstance(TransportService.class, nodeAndClient.name).getTaskManager();
+                            DiscoveryNode localNode = getInstance(ClusterService.class, nodeAndClient.name).localNode();
+                            List<TaskInfo> taskInfos = taskManager.getTasks().values().stream()
+                                    .filter(task -> task instanceof ReplicationTask)
+                                    .map(task -> task.taskInfo(localNode.getId(), true))
+                                    .collect(Collectors.toList());
+                            ListTasksResponse response = new ListTasksResponse(taskInfos, Collections.emptyList(), Collections.emptyList());
+                            XContentBuilder builder = null;
+                            try {
+                                builder = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder()
+                                        .prettyPrint()
+                                        .startObject()
+                                        .value(response)
+                                        .endObject();
+                                throw new AssertionError("expected index shard counter on shard " + indexShard.shardId() + " on node " +
+                                        nodeAndClient.name + " to be 0 but was " + activeOperationsCount + ". Current replication tasks on node:\n" +
+                                        builder.string());
+                            } catch (IOException e) {
+                                throw new RuntimeException("caught exception while building response [" + response + "]", e);
+                            }
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             }
-        }
+        });
     }
 
     private void randomlyResetClients() throws IOException {
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/TestCluster.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/TestCluster.java
index b960685777e8d..c2ac65d9980e1 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/TestCluster.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/TestCluster.java
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ public void wipe(Set<String> excludeTemplates) {
     /**
      * Assertions that should run before the cluster is wiped should be called in this method
      */
-    public void beforeIndexDeletion() throws IOException {
+    public void beforeIndexDeletion() throws Exception {
     }
 
     /**