diff --git a/x-pack/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/DataStreamsUpgradeIT.java b/x-pack/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/DataStreamsUpgradeIT.java
index add4ebdf41359..40fc248fc9deb 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/DataStreamsUpgradeIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/DataStreamsUpgradeIT.java
@@ -171,6 +171,11 @@ public void testDataStreamValidationDoesNotBreakUpgrade() throws Exception {
                     request.addParameter("wait_for_status", "yellow");
                 }));
             } else if (CLUSTER_TYPE == ClusterType.UPGRADED) {
+                // Wait for the cluster to recover to yellow at least before checking index status
+                ensureHealth((request -> {
+                    request.addParameter("timeout", "30s");
+                    request.addParameter("wait_for_status", "yellow");
+                }));
                 ensureHealth("logs-barbaz", (request -> {
                     request.addParameter("wait_for_nodes", "3");
                     request.addParameter("wait_for_status", "green");