diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/persistence/JobProvider.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/persistence/JobProvider.java
index 379a4d2fc07..19413af067e 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/persistence/JobProvider.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/persistence/JobProvider.java
@@ -236,8 +236,15 @@ public class JobProvider {
      */
     public void dataCounts(String jobId, Consumer<DataCounts> handler, Consumer<Exception> errorHandler) {
         String indexName = AnomalyDetectorsIndex.jobResultsAliasedName(jobId);
-        get(indexName, DataCounts.TYPE.getPreferredName(), DataCounts.documentId(jobId), handler, errorHandler,
-                DataCounts.PARSER, () -> new DataCounts(jobId));
+        searchSingleResult(jobId, DataCounts.TYPE.getPreferredName(), createLatestDataCountsSearch(indexName, jobId),
+                DataCounts.PARSER, handler, errorHandler, () -> new DataCounts(jobId));
+    }
+
+    private SearchRequestBuilder createLatestDataCountsSearch(String indexName, String jobId) {
+        return client.prepareSearch(indexName)
+                .setSize(1)
+                .setQuery(QueryBuilders.idsQuery().addIds(DataCounts.documentId(jobId)))
+                .addSort(SortBuilders.fieldSort(DataCounts.LATEST_RECORD_TIME.getPreferredName()).order(SortOrder.DESC));
     }
 
     public void getAutodetectParams(Job job, Consumer<AutodetectParams> consumer, Consumer<Exception> errorHandler) {
@@ -247,7 +254,7 @@ public class JobProvider {
         String resultsIndex = AnomalyDetectorsIndex.jobResultsAliasedName(jobId);
         String stateIndex = AnomalyDetectorsIndex.jobStateIndexName();
         MultiSearchRequestBuilder msearch = client.prepareMultiSearch()
-                .add(createDocIdSearch(resultsIndex, DataCounts.TYPE.getPreferredName(), DataCounts.documentId(jobId)))
+                .add(createLatestDataCountsSearch(resultsIndex, jobId))
                 .add(createLatestModelSizeStatsSearch(resultsIndex))
                 .add(createDocIdSearch(resultsIndex, ModelSnapshot.TYPE.getPreferredName(),
                         ModelSnapshot.documentId(jobId, job.getModelSnapshotId())))
@@ -953,16 +960,26 @@ public class JobProvider {
         LOGGER.trace("ES API CALL: search latest {} for job {}", ModelSizeStats.RESULT_TYPE_VALUE, jobId);
 
         String indexName = AnomalyDetectorsIndex.jobResultsAliasedName(jobId);
-        createLatestModelSizeStatsSearch(indexName).execute(ActionListener.wrap(
+        searchSingleResult(jobId, ModelSizeStats.RESULT_TYPE_VALUE, createLatestModelSizeStatsSearch(indexName),
+                ModelSizeStats.PARSER,
+                builder -> handler.accept(builder.build()), errorHandler,
+                () -> new ModelSizeStats.Builder(jobId));
+    }
+
+    private <U, T> void searchSingleResult(String jobId, String resultDescription, SearchRequestBuilder search,
+                                        BiFunction<XContentParser, U, T> objectParser, Consumer<T> handler,
+                                        Consumer<Exception> errorHandler, Supplier<T> notFoundSupplier) {
+        search.execute(ActionListener.wrap(
                 response -> {
                     SearchHit[] hits = response.getHits().getHits();
                     if (hits.length == 0) {
-                        LOGGER.trace("No {} for job with id {}", ModelSizeStats.RESULT_TYPE_VALUE, jobId);
-                        handler.accept(new ModelSizeStats.Builder(jobId).build());
+                        LOGGER.trace("No {} for job with id {}", resultDescription, jobId);
+                        handler.accept(notFoundSupplier.get());
                     } else if (hits.length == 1) {
-                        handler.accept(parseSearchHit(hits[0], ModelSizeStats.PARSER, errorHandler).build());
+                        handler.accept(parseSearchHit(hits[0], objectParser, errorHandler));
                     } else {
-                        errorHandler.accept(new IllegalStateException("Search returned " + hits.length + " hits even though size was 1"));
+                        errorHandler.accept(new IllegalStateException("Search for unique [" + resultDescription + "] returned ["
+                                + hits.length + "] hits even though size was 1"));
                     }
                 }, errorHandler
         ));