diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/cache/Cache.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/cache/Cache.java
index 709dbcec8ed..ae07f5d5289 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/cache/Cache.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/cache/Cache.java
@@ -187,16 +187,13 @@ public class Cache<K, V> {
          * @param key the key of the entry to add to the cache
          * @param value the value of the entry to add to the cache
          * @param now the access time of this entry
-         * @param onlyIfAbsent whether or not an existing entry should be replaced
          * @return a tuple of the new entry and the existing entry, if there was one otherwise null
          */
-        Tuple<Entry<K, V>, Entry<K, V>> put(K key, V value, long now, boolean onlyIfAbsent) {
+        Tuple<Entry<K, V>, Entry<K, V>> put(K key, V value, long now) {
             Entry<K, V> entry = new Entry<>(key, value, now);
-            Entry<K, V> existing = null;
+            Entry<K, V> existing;
             try (ReleasableLock ignored = writeLock.acquire()) {
-                if (!onlyIfAbsent || (onlyIfAbsent && map.get(key) == null)) {
-                    existing = map.put(key, entry);
-                }
+                existing = map.put(key, entry);
             }
             return Tuple.tuple(entry, existing);
         }
@@ -282,9 +279,15 @@ public class Cache<K, V> {
         long now = now();
         V value = get(key);
         if (value == null) {
-            value = mappingFunction.apply(key);
-            if (value != null) {
-                put(key, value, now, true);
+            CacheSegment<K, V> segment = getCacheSegment(key);
+            try (ReleasableLock ignored = segment.writeLock.acquire()) {
+                value = get(key);
+                if (value == null) {
+                    value = mappingFunction.apply(key);
+                }
+                if (value != null) {
+                    put(key, value, now);
+                }
             }
         }
         return value;
@@ -299,12 +302,12 @@ public class Cache<K, V> {
      */
     public void put(K key, V value) {
         long now = now();
-        put(key, value, now, false);
+        put(key, value, now);
     }
 
-    private void put(K key, V value, long now, boolean onlyIfAbsent) {
+    private void put(K key, V value, long now) {
         CacheSegment<K, V> segment = getCacheSegment(key);
-        Tuple<Entry<K, V>, Entry<K, V>> tuple = segment.put(key, value, now, onlyIfAbsent);
+        Tuple<Entry<K, V>, Entry<K, V>> tuple = segment.put(key, value, now);
         boolean replaced = false;
         try (ReleasableLock ignored = lock.acquire()) {
             if (tuple.v2() != null && tuple.v2().state == State.EXISTING) {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/cache/CacheTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/cache/CacheTests.java
index 3934a1c2239..bb348b378f9 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/cache/CacheTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/cache/CacheTests.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import org.junit.Before;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReferenceArray;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
 
@@ -435,6 +436,31 @@ public class CacheTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertEquals(replacements, notifications);
     }
 
+    public void testComputeIfAbsentCallsOnce() throws InterruptedException {
+        int numberOfThreads = randomIntBetween(2, 200);
+        final Cache<Integer, String> cache = CacheBuilder.<Integer, String>builder().build();
+        List<Thread> threads = new ArrayList<>();
+        AtomicReferenceArray flags = new AtomicReferenceArray(numberOfEntries);
+        for (int j = 0; j < numberOfEntries; j++) {
+            flags.set(j, false);
+        }
+        for (int i = 0; i < numberOfThreads; i++) {
+            Thread thread = new Thread(() -> {
+               for (int j = 0; j < numberOfEntries; j++) {
+                   cache.computeIfAbsent(j, key -> {
+                       assertTrue(flags.compareAndSet(key, false, true));
+                       return Integer.toString(key);
+                   });
+               }
+            });
+            threads.add(thread);
+            thread.start();
+        }
+        for (Thread thread : threads) {
+            thread.join();
+        }
+    }
+
     // test that the cache is not corrupted under lots of concurrent modifications, even hitting the same key
     // here be dragons: this test did catch one subtle bug during development; do not remove lightly
     public void testTorture() throws InterruptedException {