diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
index 18042977f56..9d030b33ced 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterChangedEvent;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterService;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterStateListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.MetaData;
-import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.*;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.IndexRoutingTable;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.IndexShardRoutingTable;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardRouting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.component.AbstractComponent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Inject;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.FileSystemUtils;
@@ -37,8 +39,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesService;
 import org.elasticsearch.node.settings.NodeSettingsService;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 
-import java.io.File;
-
 /**
  *
  */
@@ -81,8 +81,6 @@ public class IndicesStore extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListe
 
     private final ClusterService clusterService;
 
-    private final ThreadPool threadPool;
-
     private volatile String rateLimitingType;
     private volatile ByteSizeValue rateLimitingThrottle;
     private final StoreRateLimiting rateLimiting = new StoreRateLimiting();
@@ -96,7 +94,6 @@ public class IndicesStore extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListe
         this.nodeSettingsService = nodeSettingsService;
         this.indicesService = indicesService;
         this.clusterService = clusterService;
-        this.threadPool = threadPool;
 
         this.rateLimitingType = componentSettings.get("throttle.type", "none");
         rateLimiting.setType(rateLimitingType);
@@ -128,55 +125,20 @@ public class IndicesStore extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListe
             return;
         }
 
-        // when all shards are started within a shard replication group, delete an unallocated shard on this node
-        RoutingTable routingTable = event.state().routingTable();
-        for (IndexRoutingTable indexRoutingTable : routingTable) {
-            IndexService indexService = indicesService.indexService(indexRoutingTable.index());
-            if (indexService == null) {
-                // we handle this later...
-                continue;
-            }
-            // if the store is not persistent, don't bother trying to check if it can be deleted
-            if (!indexService.store().persistent()) {
-                continue;
-            }
+        for (IndexRoutingTable indexRoutingTable : event.state().routingTable()) {
+            // Note, closed indices will not have any routing information, so won't be deleted
             for (IndexShardRoutingTable indexShardRoutingTable : indexRoutingTable) {
-                // if it has been created on this node, we don't want to delete it
-                if (indexService.hasShard(indexShardRoutingTable.shardId().id())) {
-                    continue;
-                }
-                if (!indexService.store().canDeleteUnallocated(indexShardRoutingTable.shardId())) {
-                    continue;
-                }
-                // only delete an unallocated shard if all (other shards) are started
-                int startedShardsCount = indexShardRoutingTable.countWithState(ShardRoutingState.STARTED);
-                if (startedShardsCount > 0 && startedShardsCount == indexShardRoutingTable.size()) {
-                    if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
-                        logger.debug("[{}][{}] deleting unallocated shard", indexShardRoutingTable.shardId().index().name(), indexShardRoutingTable.shardId().id());
-                    }
-                    try {
-                        indexService.store().deleteUnallocated(indexShardRoutingTable.shardId());
-                    } catch (Exception e) {
-                        logger.debug("[{}][{}] failed to delete unallocated shard, ignoring", e, indexShardRoutingTable.shardId().index().name(), indexShardRoutingTable.shardId().id());
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        // do the reverse, and delete dangling shards that might remain on that node
-        // but are allocated on other nodes
-        if (nodeEnv.hasNodeFile()) {
-            // delete unused shards for existing indices
-            for (IndexRoutingTable indexRoutingTable : routingTable) {
-                IndexService indexService = indicesService.indexService(indexRoutingTable.index());
-                if (indexService != null) { // allocated, ignore this
-                    continue;
-                }
-                for (IndexShardRoutingTable indexShardRoutingTable : indexRoutingTable) {
-                    boolean shardCanBeDeleted = true;
+                ShardId shardId = indexShardRoutingTable.shardId();
+                // a shard can be deleted if all its copies are active, and its not allocated on this node
+                boolean shardCanBeDeleted = true;
+                if (indexShardRoutingTable.size() == 0) {
+                    // should not really happen, there should always be at least 1 (primary) shard in a
+                    // shard replication group, in any case, protected from deleting something by mistake
+                    shardCanBeDeleted = false;
+                } else {
                     for (ShardRouting shardRouting : indexShardRoutingTable) {
-                        // don't delete a shard that not all instances are active
-                        if (!shardRouting.active()) {
+                        // be conservative here, check on started, not even active
+                        if (!shardRouting.started()) {
                             shardCanBeDeleted = false;
                             break;
                         }
@@ -188,13 +150,30 @@ public class IndicesStore extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListe
                             break;
                         }
                     }
-                    if (shardCanBeDeleted) {
-                        ShardId shardId = indexShardRoutingTable.shardId();
-                        for (File shardLocation : nodeEnv.shardLocations(shardId)) {
-                            if (shardLocation.exists()) {
+                }
+                if (shardCanBeDeleted) {
+                    IndexService indexService = indicesService.indexService(indexRoutingTable.index());
+                    if (indexService == null) {
+                        // not physical allocation of the index, delete it from the file system if applicable
+                        if (nodeEnv.hasNodeFile()) {
+                            logger.debug("[{}][{}] deleting shard that is no longer used", shardId.index().name(), shardId.id());
+                            FileSystemUtils.deleteRecursively(nodeEnv.shardLocations(shardId));
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        if (!indexService.hasShard(shardId.id())) {
+                            if (indexService.store().canDeleteUnallocated(shardId)) {
                                 logger.debug("[{}][{}] deleting shard that is no longer used", shardId.index().name(), shardId.id());
-                                FileSystemUtils.deleteRecursively(shardLocation);
+                                try {
+                                    indexService.store().deleteUnallocated(indexShardRoutingTable.shardId());
+                                } catch (Exception e) {
+                                    logger.debug("[{}][{}] failed to delete unallocated shard, ignoring", e, indexShardRoutingTable.shardId().index().name(), indexShardRoutingTable.shardId().id());
+                                }
                             }
+                        } else {
+                            // this state is weird, should we log?
+                            // basically, it means that the shard is not allocated on this node using the routing
+                            // but its still physically exists on an IndexService
+                            // Note, this listener should run after IndicesClusterStateService...
                         }
                     }
                 }