diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MachineLearning.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MachineLearning.java
index 9e2e2413886..362b3afdf5f 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MachineLearning.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MachineLearning.java
@@ -155,8 +155,9 @@ public class MachineLearning implements ActionPlugin {
     public static final Setting<Boolean> AUTODETECT_PROCESS =
             Setting.boolSetting("xpack.ml.autodetect_process", true, Property.NodeScope);
     public static final Setting<Boolean> ML_ENABLED =
-            Setting.boolSetting("node.ml", XPackSettings.MACHINE_LEARNING_ENABLED, Setting.Property.NodeScope);
+            Setting.boolSetting("node.ml", XPackSettings.MACHINE_LEARNING_ENABLED, Property.NodeScope);
     public static final String ML_ENABLED_NODE_ATTR = "ml.enabled";
+    public static final String MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR = "ml.max_open_jobs";
     public static final Setting<Integer> CONCURRENT_JOB_ALLOCATIONS =
             Setting.intSetting("xpack.ml.node_concurrent_job_allocations", 2, 0, Property.Dynamic, Property.NodeScope);
 
@@ -200,7 +201,10 @@ public class MachineLearning implements ActionPlugin {
         Settings.Builder additionalSettings = Settings.builder();
         Boolean allocationEnabled = ML_ENABLED.get(settings);
         if (allocationEnabled != null && allocationEnabled) {
+            // TODO: the simple true/false flag will not be required once all supported versions have the number - consider removing in 7.0
             additionalSettings.put("node.attr." + ML_ENABLED_NODE_ATTR, "true");
+            additionalSettings.put("node.attr." + MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR,
+                    AutodetectProcessManager.MAX_RUNNING_JOBS_PER_NODE.get(settings));
         }
         return additionalSettings.build();
     }
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/action/OpenJobAction.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/action/OpenJobAction.java
index 369f77319bd..6427de84d55 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/action/OpenJobAction.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/action/OpenJobAction.java
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ObjectParser;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContentObject;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
@@ -566,14 +565,20 @@ public class OpenJobAction extends Action<OpenJobAction.Request, OpenJobAction.R
 
         private final AutodetectProcessManager autodetectProcessManager;
 
-        private final int maxNumberOfOpenJobs;
+        /**
+         * The maximum number of open jobs can be different on each node.  However, nodes on older versions
+         * won't add their setting to the cluster state, so for backwards compatibility with these nodes we
+         * assume the older node's setting is the same as that of the node running this code.
+         * TODO: remove this member in 7.0
+         */
+        private final int fallbackMaxNumberOfOpenJobs;
         private volatile int maxConcurrentJobAllocations;
 
         public OpenJobPersistentTasksExecutor(Settings settings, ClusterService clusterService,
                                               AutodetectProcessManager autodetectProcessManager) {
             super(settings, TASK_NAME, MachineLearning.UTILITY_THREAD_POOL_NAME);
             this.autodetectProcessManager = autodetectProcessManager;
-            this.maxNumberOfOpenJobs = AutodetectProcessManager.MAX_RUNNING_JOBS_PER_NODE.get(settings);
+            this.fallbackMaxNumberOfOpenJobs = AutodetectProcessManager.MAX_RUNNING_JOBS_PER_NODE.get(settings);
             this.maxConcurrentJobAllocations = MachineLearning.CONCURRENT_JOB_ALLOCATIONS.get(settings);
             clusterService.getClusterSettings()
                     .addSettingsUpdateConsumer(MachineLearning.CONCURRENT_JOB_ALLOCATIONS, this::setMaxConcurrentJobAllocations);
@@ -581,7 +586,8 @@ public class OpenJobAction extends Action<OpenJobAction.Request, OpenJobAction.R
 
         @Override
         public Assignment getAssignment(JobParams params, ClusterState clusterState) {
-            return selectLeastLoadedMlNode(params.getJobId(), clusterState, maxConcurrentJobAllocations, maxNumberOfOpenJobs, logger);
+            return selectLeastLoadedMlNode(params.getJobId(), clusterState, maxConcurrentJobAllocations, fallbackMaxNumberOfOpenJobs,
+                    logger);
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -591,7 +597,7 @@ public class OpenJobAction extends Action<OpenJobAction.Request, OpenJobAction.R
             MlMetadata mlMetadata = clusterState.metaData().custom(MlMetadata.TYPE);
             OpenJobAction.validate(params.getJobId(), mlMetadata);
             Assignment assignment = selectLeastLoadedMlNode(params.getJobId(), clusterState, maxConcurrentJobAllocations,
-                    maxNumberOfOpenJobs, logger);
+                    fallbackMaxNumberOfOpenJobs, logger);
             if (assignment.getExecutorNode() == null) {
                 String msg = "Could not open job because no suitable nodes were found, allocation explanation ["
                         + assignment.getExplanation() + "]";
@@ -649,7 +655,7 @@ public class OpenJobAction extends Action<OpenJobAction.Request, OpenJobAction.R
     }
 
     static Assignment selectLeastLoadedMlNode(String jobId, ClusterState clusterState, int maxConcurrentJobAllocations,
-                                              long maxNumberOfOpenJobs, Logger logger) {
+                                              int fallbackMaxNumberOfOpenJobs, Logger logger) {
         List<String> unavailableIndices = verifyIndicesPrimaryShardsAreActive(jobId, clusterState);
         if (unavailableIndices.size() != 0) {
             String reason = "Not opening job [" + jobId + "], because not all primary shards are active for the following indices [" +
@@ -716,6 +722,20 @@ public class OpenJobAction extends Action<OpenJobAction.Request, OpenJobAction.R
                 continue;
             }
 
+            String maxNumberOfOpenJobsStr = nodeAttributes.get(MachineLearning.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR);
+            int maxNumberOfOpenJobs = fallbackMaxNumberOfOpenJobs;
+            // TODO: remove leniency and reject the node if the attribute is null in 7.0
+            if (maxNumberOfOpenJobsStr != null) {
+                try {
+                    maxNumberOfOpenJobs = Integer.parseInt(maxNumberOfOpenJobsStr);
+                } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+                    String reason = "Not opening job [" + jobId + "] on node [" + node + "], because " +
+                            MachineLearning.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR + " attribute [" + maxNumberOfOpenJobsStr + "] is not an integer";
+                    logger.trace(reason);
+                    reasons.add(reason);
+                    continue;
+                }
+            }
             long available = maxNumberOfOpenJobs - numberOfAssignedJobs;
             if (available == 0) {
                 String reason = "Not opening job [" + jobId + "] on node [" + node + "], because this node is full. " +
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/BasicDistributedJobsIT.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/BasicDistributedJobsIT.java
index d2fe5c3efee..9eb70508e91 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/BasicDistributedJobsIT.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/BasicDistributedJobsIT.java
@@ -215,6 +215,7 @@ public class BasicDistributedJobsIT extends BaseMlIntegTestCase {
             DiscoveryNode node = clusterState.nodes().resolveNode(task.getExecutorNode());
             Map<String, String> expectedNodeAttr = new HashMap<>();
             expectedNodeAttr.put(MachineLearning.ML_ENABLED_NODE_ATTR, "true");
+            expectedNodeAttr.put(MachineLearning.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR, "10");
             assertEquals(expectedNodeAttr, node.getAttributes());
             JobTaskStatus jobTaskStatus = (JobTaskStatus) task.getStatus();
             assertNotNull(jobTaskStatus);
@@ -402,6 +403,7 @@ public class BasicDistributedJobsIT extends BaseMlIntegTestCase {
             DiscoveryNode node = clusterState.nodes().resolveNode(task.getExecutorNode());
             Map<String, String> expectedNodeAttr = new HashMap<>();
             expectedNodeAttr.put(MachineLearning.ML_ENABLED_NODE_ATTR, "true");
+            expectedNodeAttr.put(MachineLearning.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR, "10");
             assertEquals(expectedNodeAttr, node.getAttributes());
 
             JobTaskStatus jobTaskStatus = (JobTaskStatus) task.getStatus();