diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/components/create_analytics_form/create_analytics_form.tsx b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/components/create_analytics_form/create_analytics_form.tsx
index b9b6ac77ba8e8..59a0ba426894a 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/components/create_analytics_form/create_analytics_form.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/components/create_analytics_form/create_analytics_form.tsx
@@ -22,9 +22,15 @@ import {
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
 
 import { metadata } from 'ui/metadata';
+import { INDEX_PATTERN_ILLEGAL_CHARACTERS } from 'ui/index_patterns';
 
 import { CreateAnalyticsFormProps } from '../../hooks/use_create_analytics_form';
 
+// based on code used by `ui/index_patterns` internally
+// remove the space character from the list of illegal characters
+INDEX_PATTERN_ILLEGAL_CHARACTERS.pop();
+const characterList = INDEX_PATTERN_ILLEGAL_CHARACTERS.join(', ');
+
 export const CreateAnalyticsForm: FC<CreateAnalyticsFormProps> = ({ actions, state }) => {
   const { setFormState } = actions;
 
@@ -49,7 +55,6 @@ export const CreateAnalyticsForm: FC<CreateAnalyticsFormProps> = ({ actions, sta
     jobIdValid,
     sourceIndex,
     sourceIndexNameEmpty,
-    sourceIndexNameExists,
     sourceIndexNameValid,
   } = form;
 
@@ -119,39 +124,18 @@ export const CreateAnalyticsForm: FC<CreateAnalyticsFormProps> = ({ actions, sta
                   'This index pattern does not contain any numeric type fields. The analytics job may not be able to come up with any outliers.',
               })
             }
-            isInvalid={!sourceIndexNameEmpty && (!sourceIndexNameValid || !sourceIndexNameExists)}
+            isInvalid={!sourceIndexNameEmpty && !sourceIndexNameValid}
             error={
-              (!sourceIndexNameEmpty &&
-                !sourceIndexNameValid && [
-                  <Fragment>
-                    {i18n.translate('xpack.ml.dataframe.analytics.create.sourceIndexInvalidError', {
-                      defaultMessage: 'Invalid source index name.',
-                    })}
-                    <br />
-                    <EuiLink
-                      href={`https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/${metadata.branch}/indices-create-index.html#indices-create-index`}
-                      target="_blank"
-                    >
-                      {i18n.translate(
-                        'xpack.ml.dataframe.stepDetailsForm.sourceIndexInvalidErrorLink',
-                        {
-                          defaultMessage: 'Learn more about index name limitations.',
-                        }
-                      )}
-                    </EuiLink>
-                  </Fragment>,
-                ]) ||
-              (!sourceIndexNameEmpty &&
-                !sourceIndexNameExists && [
-                  <Fragment>
-                    {i18n.translate(
-                      'xpack.ml.dataframe.analytics.create.sourceIndexDoesNotExistError',
-                      {
-                        defaultMessage: 'An index with this name does not exist.',
-                      }
-                    )}
-                  </Fragment>,
-                ])
+              !sourceIndexNameEmpty &&
+              !sourceIndexNameValid && [
+                <Fragment>
+                  {i18n.translate('xpack.ml.dataframe.analytics.create.sourceIndexInvalidError', {
+                    defaultMessage:
+                      'Invalid source index name, it cannot contain spaces or the characters: {characterList}',
+                    values: { characterList },
+                  })}
+                </Fragment>,
+              ]
             }
           >
             <Fragment>
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/reducer.test.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/reducer.test.ts
index 891a181eeb4c1..b74611fe9c77b 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/reducer.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/reducer.test.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ import { ACTION } from './actions';
 import { reducer } from './reducer';
 import { getInitialState } from './state';
 
+jest.mock('ui/index_patterns', () => ({
+  validateIndexPattern: () => true,
+}));
+
 describe('useCreateAnalyticsForm', () => {
   test('reducer(): provide a minimum required valid job config, then reset.', () => {
     const initialState = getInitialState();
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/reducer.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/reducer.ts
index 19b050c024f17..1c4aefcd26ced 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/reducer.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/reducer.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 import { idx } from '@kbn/elastic-idx';
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
 
+import { validateIndexPattern } from 'ui/index_patterns';
+
 import { isValidIndexName } from '../../../../../../common/util/es_utils';
 
 import { isAnalyticsIdValid } from '../../../../common';
@@ -22,7 +24,7 @@ const validateAdvancedEditor = (state: State): State => {
 
   const sourceIndexName = idx(jobConfig, _ => _.source.index) || '';
   const sourceIndexNameEmpty = sourceIndexName === '';
-  const sourceIndexNameValid = isValidIndexName(sourceIndexName);
+  const sourceIndexNameValid = validateIndexPattern(sourceIndexName);
 
   const destinationIndexName = idx(jobConfig, _ => _.dest.index) || '';
   const destinationIndexNameEmpty = destinationIndexName === '';
@@ -161,11 +163,9 @@ export function reducer(state: State, action: Action): State {
       }
 
       if (action.payload.sourceIndex !== undefined) {
-        newFormState.sourceIndexNameExists = state.indexNames.some(
-          name => newFormState.sourceIndex === name
-        );
         newFormState.sourceIndexNameEmpty = newFormState.sourceIndex === '';
-        newFormState.sourceIndexNameValid = isValidIndexName(newFormState.sourceIndex);
+        const validationMessages = validateIndexPattern(newFormState.sourceIndex);
+        newFormState.sourceIndexNameValid = Object.keys(validationMessages).length === 0;
       }
 
       return state.isAdvancedEditorEnabled
@@ -177,9 +177,6 @@ export function reducer(state: State, action: Action): State {
       newState.form.destinationIndexNameExists = newState.indexNames.some(
         name => newState.form.destinationIndex === name
       );
-      newState.form.sourceIndexNameExists = newState.indexNames.some(
-        name => newState.form.sourceIndex === name
-      );
       return newState;
     }
 
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/state.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/state.ts
index 1478792112726..df462da65d322 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/state.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/state.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ export interface State {
     jobIdEmpty: boolean;
     jobIdValid: boolean;
     sourceIndex: EsIndexName;
-    sourceIndexNameExists: boolean;
     sourceIndexNameEmpty: boolean;
     sourceIndexNameValid: boolean;
   };
@@ -68,7 +67,6 @@ export const getInitialState = (): State => ({
     jobIdEmpty: true,
     jobIdValid: false,
     sourceIndex: '',
-    sourceIndexNameExists: false,
     sourceIndexNameEmpty: true,
     sourceIndexNameValid: false,
   },
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/use_create_analytics_form.test.tsx b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/use_create_analytics_form.test.tsx
index 3298a7d00253f..6854b439d7382 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/use_create_analytics_form.test.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_management/hooks/use_create_analytics_form/use_create_analytics_form.test.tsx
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ import { kibanaContextValueMock } from '../../../../../contexts/kibana/__mocks__
 
 import { getErrorMessage, useCreateAnalyticsForm } from './use_create_analytics_form';
 
+jest.mock('ui/index_patterns', () => ({
+  validateIndexPattern: () => true,
+}));
+
 const getMountedHook = () =>
   mountHook(
     () => useCreateAnalyticsForm(),