diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/recovery/RelocationTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/recovery/RelocationTests.java
index a4036c41402..31e3edb7a19 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/recovery/RelocationTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/recovery/RelocationTests.java
@@ -542,6 +542,13 @@ public class RelocationTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
                 .setSettings(ImmutableSettings.builder().put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1, IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)).get();
 
         internalCluster().startNodesAsync(2).get();
+
+        List<IndexRequestBuilder> requests = new ArrayList<>();
+        int numDocs = scaledRandomIntBetween(25, 250);
+        for (int i = 0; i < numDocs; i++) {
+            requests.add(client().prepareIndex(indexName, "type").setCreate(true).setSource("{}"));
+        }
+        indexRandom(true, requests);
         assertFalse(client().admin().cluster().prepareHealth().setWaitForNodes("3").setWaitForGreenStatus().get().isTimedOut());
         flush();