diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/close/TransportVerifyShardBeforeCloseAction.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/close/TransportVerifyShardBeforeCloseAction.java
index 1e30793308c91..f45a73da57951 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/close/TransportVerifyShardBeforeCloseAction.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/close/TransportVerifyShardBeforeCloseAction.java
@@ -117,6 +117,10 @@ protected void shardOperationOnReplica(ShardRequest shardRequest, IndexShard rep
     }
 
     private void executeShardOperation(final ShardRequest request, final IndexShard indexShard) throws IOException {
+        if (indexShard.routingEntry().isPromotableToPrimary() == false) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         final ShardId shardId = indexShard.shardId();
         if (indexShard.getActiveOperationsCount() != IndexShard.OPERATIONS_BLOCKED) {
             throw new IllegalStateException("Index shard " + shardId + " is not blocking all operations during closing");
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/close/TransportVerifyShardBeforeCloseActionTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/close/TransportVerifyShardBeforeCloseActionTests.java
index 8dd0e89e1cbbe..f79cb83416057 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/close/TransportVerifyShardBeforeCloseActionTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/close/TransportVerifyShardBeforeCloseActionTests.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.IndexShardRoutingTable;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardRouting;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardRoutingState;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.TestShardRouting;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.ClusterService;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.TimeValue;
@@ -94,6 +95,9 @@ public void setUp() throws Exception {
 
         final ShardId shardId = new ShardId("index", "_na_", randomIntBetween(0, 3));
         when(indexShard.shardId()).thenReturn(shardId);
+        when(indexShard.routingEntry()).thenReturn(
+            TestShardRouting.newShardRouting(shardId, randomAlphaOfLength(5), true, ShardRoutingState.STARTED)
+        );
 
         clusterService = createClusterService(threadPool);