diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/MutableShardRouting.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/MutableShardRouting.java
index ae858be7399..d5ed083f13f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/MutableShardRouting.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/MutableShardRouting.java
@@ -101,16 +101,12 @@ public class MutableShardRouting extends ImmutableShardRouting {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Set the shards state to <code>UNASSIGNED</code>.
-     * //TODO document the state
+     * Moves the shard from started to initializing and bumps the version
      */
-    void deassignNode() {
+    void reinitializeShard() {
+        assert state == ShardRoutingState.STARTED;
         version++;
-        assert state != ShardRoutingState.UNASSIGNED;
-
-        state = ShardRoutingState.UNASSIGNED;
-        this.currentNodeId = null;
-        this.relocatingNodeId = null;
+        state = ShardRoutingState.INITIALIZING;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNodes.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNodes.java
index c97dff0c140..e2088929f3c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNodes.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNodes.java
@@ -520,6 +520,16 @@ public class RoutingNodes implements Iterable<RoutingNode> {
         return nodesToShards.values().toArray(new RoutingNode[nodesToShards.size()]);
     }
 
+    public void reinitShadowPrimary(MutableShardRouting candidate) {
+        if (candidate.relocating()) {
+            cancelRelocation(candidate);
+        }
+        candidate.reinitializeShard();
+        inactivePrimaryCount++;
+        inactiveShardCount++;
+
+    }
+
     public final static class UnassignedShards implements Iterable<MutableShardRouting>  {
 
         private final List<MutableShardRouting> unassigned;
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/AllocationService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/AllocationService.java
index c6ce355a183..58f3ae58f50 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/AllocationService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/AllocationService.java
@@ -21,11 +21,13 @@ package org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.allocation;
 
 import com.carrotsearch.hppc.cursors.ObjectCursor;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+import com.google.common.collect.Iterators;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchIllegalStateException;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterInfoService;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterState;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetaData;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.node.DiscoveryNode;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.*;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.allocation.allocator.ShardsAllocators;
@@ -285,6 +287,7 @@ public class AllocationService extends AbstractComponent {
                         shardsToFail.add(routing);
                     }
                 }
+
             }
         }
         for (ShardRouting shardToFail : shardsToFail) {
@@ -293,10 +296,12 @@ public class AllocationService extends AbstractComponent {
 
         // now, go over and elect a new primary if possible, not, from this code block on, if one is elected,
         // routingNodes.hasUnassignedPrimaries() will potentially be false
+
         for (MutableShardRouting shardEntry : routingNodes.unassigned()) {
             if (shardEntry.primary()) {
                 MutableShardRouting candidate = allocation.routingNodes().activeReplica(shardEntry);
                 if (candidate != null) {
+                    IndexMetaData index = allocation.metaData().index(candidate.index());
                     routingNodes.swapPrimaryFlag(shardEntry, candidate);
                     if (candidate.relocatingNodeId() != null) {
                         changed = true;
@@ -311,6 +316,10 @@ public class AllocationService extends AbstractComponent {
                             }
                         }
                     }
+                    if (IndexMetaData.isIndexUsingShadowReplicas(index.settings())) {
+                        routingNodes.reinitShadowPrimary(candidate);
+                        changed = true;
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
index a9ffdffa24f..9a774653c5f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
@@ -1187,13 +1187,25 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
         }
     }
 
-    protected void createNewEngine() {
+    private void createNewEngine() {
         synchronized (mutex) {
             if (state == IndexShardState.CLOSED) {
                 throw new EngineClosedException(shardId);
             }
             assert this.currentEngineReference.get() == null;
-            this.currentEngineReference.set(engineFactory.newReadWriteEngine(config));
+            this.currentEngineReference.set(newEngine());
         }
     }
+
+    protected Engine newEngine() {
+        return engineFactory.newReadWriteEngine(config);
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Returns <code>true</code> iff this shard allows primary promotion, otherwise <code>false</code>
+     */
+    public boolean allowsPrimaryPromotion() {
+        return true;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
index 45f5ed3ac49..a126235ae85 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 package org.elasticsearch.index.shard;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchIllegalStateException;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardRouting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.cache.filter.ShardFilterCache;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.cache.query.ShardQueryCache;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.codec.CodecService;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.deletionpolicy.SnapshotDeletionPolicy;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.Engine;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.EngineClosedException;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.EngineFactory;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.fielddata.IndexFieldDataService;
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
  * promoted to a primary causes the shard to fail, kicking off a re-allocation
  * of the primary shard.
  */
-public class ShadowIndexShard extends IndexShard {
+public final class ShadowIndexShard extends IndexShard {
 
     private final Object mutex = new Object();
 
@@ -98,28 +100,19 @@ public class ShadowIndexShard extends IndexShard {
      */
     @Override
     public IndexShard routingEntry(ShardRouting newRouting) {
-        ShardRouting shardRouting = this.routingEntry();
-        super.routingEntry(newRouting);
-        // check for a shadow replica that now needs to be transformed into
-        // a normal primary today we simply fail it to force reallocation
-        if (shardRouting != null && shardRouting.primary() == false && // currently a replica
-                newRouting.primary() == true) {// becoming a primary
-            failShard("can't promote shadow replica to primary",
-                    new ElasticsearchIllegalStateException("can't promote shadow replica to primary"));
+        if (newRouting.primary() == true) {// becoming a primary
+            throw new ElasticsearchIllegalStateException("can't promote shard to primary");
         }
-        return this;
+        return super.routingEntry(newRouting);
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected void createNewEngine() {
-        synchronized (mutex) {
-            if (state == IndexShardState.CLOSED) {
-                throw new EngineClosedException(shardId);
-            }
-            assert this.currentEngineReference.get() == null;
-            assert this.shardRouting.primary() == false;
-            // Use the read-only engine for shadow replicas
-            this.currentEngineReference.set(engineFactory.newReadOnlyEngine(config));
-        }
+    protected Engine newEngine() {
+        assert this.shardRouting.primary() == false;
+        return engineFactory.newReadOnlyEngine(config);
+    }
+
+    public boolean allowsPrimaryPromotion() {
+        return false;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/cluster/IndicesClusterStateService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/cluster/IndicesClusterStateService.java
index ddabe6a49bd..e44ce6e4328 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/cluster/IndicesClusterStateService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/cluster/IndicesClusterStateService.java
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Inject;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ConcurrentCollections;
-import org.elasticsearch.env.NodeEnvironment;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexShardAlreadyExistsException;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexShardMissingException;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.aliases.IndexAlias;
@@ -70,7 +69,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 
 import static com.google.common.collect.Maps.newHashMap;
 import static org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper.detailedMessage;
@@ -95,7 +93,6 @@ public class IndicesClusterStateService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Indic
     // a list of shards that failed during recovery
     // we keep track of these shards in order to prevent repeated recovery of these shards on each cluster state update
     private final ConcurrentMap<ShardId, FailedShard> failedShards = ConcurrentCollections.newConcurrentMap();
-    private final NodeEnvironment nodeEnvironment;
 
     static class FailedShard {
         public final long version;
@@ -111,15 +108,13 @@ public class IndicesClusterStateService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Indic
     private final FailedEngineHandler failedEngineHandler = new FailedEngineHandler();
 
     private final boolean sendRefreshMapping;
-    private final AtomicLong recoveryIdGenerator = new AtomicLong();
 
     @Inject
     public IndicesClusterStateService(Settings settings, IndicesService indicesService, ClusterService clusterService,
                                       ThreadPool threadPool, RecoveryTarget recoveryTarget,
                                       ShardStateAction shardStateAction,
                                       NodeIndexDeletedAction nodeIndexDeletedAction,
-                                      NodeMappingRefreshAction nodeMappingRefreshAction,
-                                      NodeEnvironment nodeEnvironment) {
+                                      NodeMappingRefreshAction nodeMappingRefreshAction) {
         super(settings);
         this.indicesService = indicesService;
         this.clusterService = clusterService;
@@ -130,7 +125,6 @@ public class IndicesClusterStateService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Indic
         this.nodeMappingRefreshAction = nodeMappingRefreshAction;
 
         this.sendRefreshMapping = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("send_refresh_mapping", true);
-        this.nodeEnvironment = nodeEnvironment;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -584,9 +578,14 @@ public class IndicesClusterStateService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Indic
                     }
                 }
                 if (shardHasBeenRemoved == false && !shardRouting.equals(indexShard.routingEntry())) {
-                    // if we happen to remove the shardRouting by id above we don't need to jump in here!
-                    indexShard.routingEntry(shardRouting);
-                    indexService.shardInjectorSafe(shardId).getInstance(IndexShardGatewayService.class).routingStateChanged();
+                    if (shardRouting.primary() && indexShard.routingEntry().primary() == false && shardRouting.initializing() && indexShard.allowsPrimaryPromotion() == false) {
+                        logger.debug("{} reinitialize shard on primary promotion", indexShard.shardId());
+                        indexService.removeShard(shardId, "promoted to primary");
+                    } else {
+                        // if we happen to remove the shardRouting by id above we don't need to jump in here!
+                        indexShard.routingEntry(shardRouting);
+                        indexService.shardInjectorSafe(shardId).getInstance(IndexShardGatewayService.class).routingStateChanged();
+                    }
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexWithShadowReplicasTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexWithShadowReplicasTests.java
index 3850ac0f5d2..dce570e7c7e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexWithShadowReplicasTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexWithShadowReplicasTests.java
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchHit;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.sort.SortOrder;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ElasticsearchIntegrationTest;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.InternalTestCluster;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.junit.annotations.TestLogging;
+import org.junit.Ignore;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 import java.nio.file.Path;
@@ -165,6 +167,15 @@ public class IndexWithShadowReplicasTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
         assertTrue(gResp2.toString(), gResp2.isExists());
         assertThat(gResp1.getField("foo").getValue().toString(), equalTo("bar"));
         assertThat(gResp2.getField("foo").getValue().toString(), equalTo("bar"));
+
+        client().prepareIndex(IDX, "doc", "1").setSource("foo", "foobar").get();
+        client().prepareIndex(IDX, "doc", "2").setSource("foo", "foobar").get();
+        gResp1 = client().prepareGet(IDX, "doc", "1").setFields("foo").get();
+        gResp2 = client().prepareGet(IDX, "doc", "2").setFields("foo").get();
+        assertTrue(gResp1.isExists());
+        assertTrue(gResp2.toString(), gResp2.isExists());
+        assertThat(gResp1.getField("foo").getValue().toString(), equalTo("foobar"));
+        assertThat(gResp2.getField("foo").getValue().toString(), equalTo("foobar"));
     }
 
     @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/store/MockFSDirectoryService.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/store/MockFSDirectoryService.java
index 1153544e99a..618e23bc569 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/store/MockFSDirectoryService.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/store/MockFSDirectoryService.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import org.apache.lucene.store.LockFactory;
 import org.apache.lucene.store.StoreRateLimiting;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.AbstractRandomizedTest;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.IOUtils;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetaData;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Inject;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.BytesStreamOutput;
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ public class MockFSDirectoryService extends FsDirectoryService {
                                                    @IndexSettings Settings indexSettings) {
                     if (indexShard != null && shardId.equals(sid)) {
                         logger.info("Shard state before potentially flushing is {}", indexShard.state());
-                        if (validCheckIndexStates.contains(indexShard.state()) && indexShard.engine() instanceof InternalEngine) {
+                        if (validCheckIndexStates.contains(indexShard.state()) && IndexMetaData.isOnSharedFilesystem(indexSettings) == false) {
                             // When the the internal engine closes we do a rollback, which removes uncommitted segments
                             // By doing a commit flush we perform a Lucene commit, but don't clear the translog,
                             // so that even in tests where don't flush we can check the integrity of the Lucene index