diff --git a/qa/mixed-cluster/src/test/java/org/opensearch/backwards/IndexingIT.java b/qa/mixed-cluster/src/test/java/org/opensearch/backwards/IndexingIT.java
index 048024bebcdd7..a6675a6d0ddb5 100644
--- a/qa/mixed-cluster/src/test/java/org/opensearch/backwards/IndexingIT.java
+++ b/qa/mixed-cluster/src/test/java/org/opensearch/backwards/IndexingIT.java
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ public void testIndexingWithPrimaryOnBwcNodes() throws Exception {
             .put("index.routing.allocation.include._name", bwcNames);
         final String index = "test-index";
         createIndex(index, settings.build());
-        ensureYellow(index);
+        ensureNoInitializingShards(); // wait for all other shard activity to finish
 
         int docCount = 200;
         try (RestClient nodeClient = buildClient(restClientSettings(),
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ public void testIndexingWithReplicaOnBwcNodes() throws Exception {
             .put("index.routing.allocation.exclude._name", bwcNames);
         final String index = "test-index";
         createIndex(index, settings.build());
-        ensureYellow(index);
+        ensureNoInitializingShards(); // wait for all other shard activity to finish
         printClusterRouting();
 
         int docCount = 200;
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/rest/OpenSearchRestTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/rest/OpenSearchRestTestCase.java
index 11df944f1644a..a5d2e6793f397 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/rest/OpenSearchRestTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/rest/OpenSearchRestTestCase.java
@@ -918,20 +918,6 @@ public static void ensureGreen(String index) throws IOException {
         });
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Checks that the specific index is yellow.
-     *
-     * @param index index to test for
-     **/
-    public static void ensureYellow(String index) throws IOException {
-        ensureHealth(index, (request) -> {
-            request.addParameter("wait_for_status", "yellow");
-            request.addParameter("wait_for_no_relocating_shards", "true");
-            request.addParameter("timeout", "70s");
-            request.addParameter("level", "shards");
-        });
-    }
-
     protected static void ensureHealth(Consumer<Request> requestConsumer) throws IOException {
         ensureHealth("", requestConsumer);
     }