diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ilm/SegmentCountStep.java b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ilm/SegmentCountStep.java
index ab877b36b88..ab543839691 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ilm/SegmentCountStep.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ilm/SegmentCountStep.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.segments.IndexSegments;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.segments.IndicesSegmentsRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.segments.ShardSegments;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.support.DefaultShardOperationFailedException;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Client;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetaData;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardRouting;
@@ -50,19 +51,32 @@ public class SegmentCountStep extends AsyncWaitStep {
     public void evaluateCondition(IndexMetaData indexMetaData, Listener listener) {
         getClient().admin().indices().segments(new IndicesSegmentsRequest(indexMetaData.getIndex().getName()),
             ActionListener.wrap(response -> {
-                IndexSegments segments = response.getIndices().get(indexMetaData.getIndex().getName());
-                List<ShardSegments> unmergedShards = segments.getShards().values().stream()
-                    .flatMap(iss -> Arrays.stream(iss.getShards()))
-                    .filter(shardSegments -> shardSegments.getSegments().size() > maxNumSegments)
-                    .collect(Collectors.toList());
-                if (unmergedShards.size() > 0) {
-                    Map<ShardRouting, Integer> unmergedShardCounts = unmergedShards.stream()
-                        .collect(Collectors.toMap(ShardSegments::getShardRouting, ss -> ss.getSegments().size()));
-                    logger.info("[{}] best effort force merge to [{}] segments did not succeed for {} shards: {}",
-                        indexMetaData.getIndex().getName(), maxNumSegments, unmergedShards.size(), unmergedShardCounts);
+                IndexSegments idxSegments = response.getIndices().get(indexMetaData.getIndex().getName());
+                if (idxSegments == null || (response.getShardFailures() != null && response.getShardFailures().length > 0)) {
+                    final DefaultShardOperationFailedException[] failures = response.getShardFailures();
+                    logger.info("[{}] retrieval of segment counts after force merge did not succeed, " +
+                            "there were {} shard failures. " +
+                            "failures: {}",
+                        indexMetaData.getIndex().getName(),
+                        response.getFailedShards(),
+                        failures == null ? "n/a" : Strings.collectionToDelimitedString(Arrays.stream(failures)
+                            .map(Strings::toString)
+                            .collect(Collectors.toList()), ","));
+                    listener.onResponse(true, new Info(-1));
+                } else {
+                    List<ShardSegments> unmergedShards = idxSegments.getShards().values().stream()
+                        .flatMap(iss -> Arrays.stream(iss.getShards()))
+                        .filter(shardSegments -> shardSegments.getSegments().size() > maxNumSegments)
+                        .collect(Collectors.toList());
+                    if (unmergedShards.size() > 0) {
+                        Map<ShardRouting, Integer> unmergedShardCounts = unmergedShards.stream()
+                            .collect(Collectors.toMap(ShardSegments::getShardRouting, ss -> ss.getSegments().size()));
+                        logger.info("[{}] best effort force merge to [{}] segments did not succeed for {} shards: {}",
+                            indexMetaData.getIndex().getName(), maxNumSegments, unmergedShards.size(), unmergedShardCounts);
+                    }
+                    // Force merging is best effort, so always return true that the condition has been met.
+                    listener.onResponse(true, new Info(unmergedShards.size()));
                 }
-                // Force merging is best effort, so always return true that the condition has been met.
-                listener.onResponse(true, new Info(unmergedShards.size()));
             }, listener::onFailure));
     }
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ilm/SegmentCountStepTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ilm/SegmentCountStepTests.java
index 6c152776794..b15ba2669ec 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ilm/SegmentCountStepTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ilm/SegmentCountStepTests.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.segments.IndexSegments;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.segments.IndexShardSegments;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.segments.IndicesSegmentResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.segments.ShardSegments;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.support.DefaultShardOperationFailedException;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.AdminClient;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Client;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.IndicesAdminClient;
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ public class SegmentCountStepTests extends AbstractStepTestCase<SegmentCountStep
 
             @Override
             public void onFailure(Exception e) {
+                logger.warn("unexpected onFailure call", e);
                 throw new AssertionError("unexpected method call");
             }
         });
@@ -187,6 +189,7 @@ public class SegmentCountStepTests extends AbstractStepTestCase<SegmentCountStep
 
             @Override
             public void onFailure(Exception e) {
+                logger.warn("unexpected onFailure call", e);
                 throw new AssertionError("unexpected method call");
             }
         });
@@ -195,6 +198,67 @@ public class SegmentCountStepTests extends AbstractStepTestCase<SegmentCountStep
         assertEquals(new SegmentCountStep.Info(0L), conditionInfo.get());
     }
 
+    public void testFailedToRetrieveSomeSegments() {
+        int maxNumSegments = randomIntBetween(3, 10);
+        Index index = new Index(randomAlphaOfLengthBetween(1, 20), randomAlphaOfLengthBetween(1, 20));
+        Client client = Mockito.mock(Client.class);
+        AdminClient adminClient = Mockito.mock(AdminClient.class);
+        IndicesAdminClient indicesClient = Mockito.mock(IndicesAdminClient.class);
+        IndicesSegmentResponse indicesSegmentResponse = Mockito.mock(IndicesSegmentResponse.class);
+        IndexSegments indexSegments = Mockito.mock(IndexSegments.class);
+        IndexShardSegments indexShardSegments = Mockito.mock(IndexShardSegments.class);
+        Map<Integer, IndexShardSegments> indexShards = Collections.singletonMap(0, indexShardSegments);
+        ShardSegments shardSegmentsOne = Mockito.mock(ShardSegments.class);
+        ShardSegments[] shardSegmentsArray = new ShardSegments[] { shardSegmentsOne };
+        Spliterator<IndexShardSegments> iss = indexShards.values().spliterator();
+        List<Segment> segments = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (int i = 0; i < maxNumSegments + randomIntBetween(1, 3); i++) {
+            segments.add(null);
+        }
+        Mockito.when(indicesSegmentResponse.getStatus()).thenReturn(RestStatus.OK);
+        Mockito.when(indicesSegmentResponse.getIndices()).thenReturn(Collections.singletonMap(index.getName(), null));
+        Mockito.when(indicesSegmentResponse.getShardFailures())
+            .thenReturn(new DefaultShardOperationFailedException[]{new DefaultShardOperationFailedException(index.getName(),
+                0, new IllegalArgumentException("fake"))});
+        Mockito.when(indexSegments.spliterator()).thenReturn(iss);
+        Mockito.when(indexShardSegments.getShards()).thenReturn(shardSegmentsArray);
+        Mockito.when(shardSegmentsOne.getSegments()).thenReturn(segments);
+
+        Mockito.when(client.admin()).thenReturn(adminClient);
+        Mockito.when(adminClient.indices()).thenReturn(indicesClient);
+
+        Step.StepKey stepKey = randomStepKey();
+        StepKey nextStepKey = randomStepKey();
+
+        Mockito.doAnswer(invocationOnMock -> {
+            @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+            ActionListener<IndicesSegmentResponse> listener = (ActionListener<IndicesSegmentResponse>) invocationOnMock.getArguments()[1];
+            listener.onResponse(indicesSegmentResponse);
+            return null;
+        }).when(indicesClient).segments(any(), any());
+
+        SetOnce<Boolean> conditionMetResult = new SetOnce<>();
+        SetOnce<ToXContentObject> conditionInfo = new SetOnce<>();
+
+        SegmentCountStep step = new SegmentCountStep(stepKey, nextStepKey, client, maxNumSegments);
+        step.evaluateCondition(makeMeta(index), new AsyncWaitStep.Listener() {
+            @Override
+            public void onResponse(boolean conditionMet, ToXContentObject info) {
+                conditionMetResult.set(conditionMet);
+                conditionInfo.set(info);
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onFailure(Exception e) {
+                logger.warn("unexpected onFailure call", e);
+                throw new AssertionError("unexpected method call: " + e);
+            }
+        });
+
+        assertTrue(conditionMetResult.get());
+        assertEquals(new SegmentCountStep.Info(-1L), conditionInfo.get());
+    }
+
     public void testThrowsException() {
         Exception exception = new RuntimeException("error");
         Index index = new Index(randomAlphaOfLengthBetween(1, 20), randomAlphaOfLengthBetween(1, 20));