diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/InboundHandler.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/InboundHandler.java
index c50825d00a0..b204d818c68 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/InboundHandler.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/InboundHandler.java
@@ -158,9 +158,9 @@ public class InboundHandler {
         final long requestId = message.getRequestId();
         final StreamInput stream = message.getStreamInput();
         final Version version = message.getVersion();
-        messageListener.onRequestReceived(requestId, action);
         TransportChannel transportChannel = null;
         try {
+            messageListener.onRequestReceived(requestId, action);
             if (message.isHandshake()) {
                 handshaker.handleHandshake(version, features, channel, requestId, stream);
             } else {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TransportService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TransportService.java
index 18d22f47c5c..f4eed061c7f 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TransportService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TransportService.java
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
-import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class TransportService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent implements Tran
     public static final String DIRECT_RESPONSE_PROFILE = ".direct";
     public static final String HANDSHAKE_ACTION_NAME = "internal:transport/handshake";
 
-    private final CountDownLatch blockIncomingRequestsLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+    private final AtomicBoolean handleIncomingRequests = new AtomicBoolean();
     private final DelegatingTransportMessageListener messageListener = new DelegatingTransportMessageListener();
     protected final Transport transport;
     protected final ConnectionManager connectionManager;
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ public class TransportService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent implements Tran
      * this method is called
      */
     public final void acceptIncomingRequests() {
-        blockIncomingRequestsLatch.countDown();
+        handleIncomingRequests.set(true);
     }
 
     public TransportInfo info() {
@@ -887,11 +887,8 @@ public class TransportService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent implements Tran
      */
     @Override
     public void onRequestReceived(long requestId, String action) {
-        try {
-            blockIncomingRequestsLatch.await();
-        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
-            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
-            throw new IllegalStateException("interrupted while waiting for incoming requests block to be removed");
+        if (handleIncomingRequests.get() == false) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("transport not ready yet to handle incoming requests");
         }
         if (tracerLog.isTraceEnabled() && shouldTraceAction(action)) {
             tracerLog.trace("[{}][{}] received request", requestId, action);
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase.java
index 360f87d13d6..d5cc128f116 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase.java
@@ -1995,8 +1995,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase extends ESTestCase {
             DiscoveryNode node =
                 new DiscoveryNode("TS_TPC", "TS_TPC", service.boundAddress().publishAddress(), emptyMap(), emptySet(), version0);
             ConnectTransportException exception = expectThrows(ConnectTransportException.class, () -> serviceA.connectToNode(node));
-            assertTrue(exception.getCause() instanceof TransportException);
-            assertEquals("handshake failed because connection reset", exception.getCause().getMessage());
+            assertThat(exception.getCause(), instanceOf(IllegalStateException.class));
+            assertEquals("handshake failed", exception.getCause().getMessage());
         }
 
         ConnectionProfile connectionProfile = ConnectionProfile.buildDefaultConnectionProfile(Settings.EMPTY);