diff --git a/plugin/src/main/resources/watch-history.json b/plugin/src/main/resources/watch-history.json
index af4b221b93e..a26305b3554 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/resources/watch-history.json
+++ b/plugin/src/main/resources/watch-history.json
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
   "settings": {
     "xpack.watcher.template.version": "${xpack.watcher.template.version}",
     "index.number_of_shards": 1,
+    "index.number_of_replicas": 0,
+    "index.auto_expand_replicas": "0-1",
     "index.format": 6
   },
   "mappings": {
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/resources/watches.json b/plugin/src/main/resources/watches.json
index 278c6275e69..ad744c44f11 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/resources/watches.json
+++ b/plugin/src/main/resources/watches.json
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
   "order": 2147483647,
   "settings": {
     "index.number_of_shards": 1,
+    "index.number_of_replicas": 0,
+    "index.auto_expand_replicas": "0-1",
     "index.format": 6,
     "index.priority": 800
   },