diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingTable.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingTable.java
index 449867b4fa9..4fda8391d2b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingTable.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingTable.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing;
 
 import com.carrotsearch.hppc.IntSet;
+import com.google.common.base.Predicate;
 import com.google.common.collect.*;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.*;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetaData;
@@ -27,7 +28,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.MetaData;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexNotFoundException;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.ShardId;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -162,28 +162,7 @@ public class RoutingTable implements Iterable<IndexRoutingTable>, Diffable<Routi
      *                                 iterator contains a single ShardRouting pointing at the relocating target
      */
     public GroupShardsIterator allActiveShardsGrouped(String[] indices, boolean includeEmpty, boolean includeRelocationTargets) {
-        // use list here since we need to maintain identity across shards
-        ArrayList<ShardIterator> set = new ArrayList<>();
-        for (String index : indices) {
-            IndexRoutingTable indexRoutingTable = index(index);
-            if (indexRoutingTable == null) {
-                continue;
-                // we simply ignore indices that don't exists (make sense for operations that use it currently)
-            }
-            for (IndexShardRoutingTable indexShardRoutingTable : indexRoutingTable) {
-                for (ShardRouting shardRouting : indexShardRoutingTable) {
-                    if (shardRouting.active()) {
-                        set.add(shardRouting.shardsIt());
-                        if (includeRelocationTargets && shardRouting.relocating()) {
-                            set.add(new PlainShardIterator(shardRouting.shardId(), Collections.singletonList(shardRouting.buildTargetRelocatingShard())));
-                        }
-                    } else if (includeEmpty) { // we need this for counting properly, just make it an empty one
-                        set.add(new PlainShardIterator(shardRouting.shardId(), Collections.<ShardRouting>emptyList()));
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        return new GroupShardsIterator(set);
+        return allSatisfyingPredicateShardsGrouped(indices, includeEmpty, includeRelocationTargets, ACTIVE_PREDICATE);
     }
 
     public GroupShardsIterator allAssignedShardsGrouped(String[] indices, boolean includeEmpty) {
@@ -198,6 +177,25 @@ public class RoutingTable implements Iterable<IndexRoutingTable>, Diffable<Routi
      *                                 iterator contains a single ShardRouting pointing at the relocating target
      */
     public GroupShardsIterator allAssignedShardsGrouped(String[] indices, boolean includeEmpty, boolean includeRelocationTargets) {
+        return allSatisfyingPredicateShardsGrouped(indices, includeEmpty, includeRelocationTargets, ASSIGNED_PREDICATE);
+    }
+
+    private static Predicate<ShardRouting> ACTIVE_PREDICATE = new Predicate<ShardRouting>() {
+        @Override
+        public boolean apply(ShardRouting shardRouting) {
+            return shardRouting.active();
+        }
+    };
+
+    private static Predicate<ShardRouting> ASSIGNED_PREDICATE = new Predicate<ShardRouting>() {
+        @Override
+        public boolean apply(ShardRouting shardRouting) {
+            return shardRouting.assignedToNode();
+        }
+    };
+
+    // TODO: replace with JDK 8 native java.util.function.Predicate
+    private GroupShardsIterator allSatisfyingPredicateShardsGrouped(String[] indices, boolean includeEmpty, boolean includeRelocationTargets, Predicate<ShardRouting> predicate) {
         // use list here since we need to maintain identity across shards
         ArrayList<ShardIterator> set = new ArrayList<>();
         for (String index : indices) {
@@ -208,7 +206,7 @@ public class RoutingTable implements Iterable<IndexRoutingTable>, Diffable<Routi
             }
             for (IndexShardRoutingTable indexShardRoutingTable : indexRoutingTable) {
                 for (ShardRouting shardRouting : indexShardRoutingTable) {
-                    if (shardRouting.assignedToNode()) {
+                    if (predicate.apply(shardRouting)) {
                         set.add(shardRouting.shardsIt());
                         if (includeRelocationTargets && shardRouting.relocating()) {
                             set.add(new PlainShardIterator(shardRouting.shardId(), Collections.singletonList(shardRouting.buildTargetRelocatingShard())));