diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
index 6e810f6e522..90989561eff 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
@@ -128,10 +128,11 @@ public class TribeService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<TribeService> {
             ImmutableSettings.Builder sb = ImmutableSettings.builder().put(entry.getValue());
             sb.put("node.name", settings.get("name") + "/" + entry.getKey());
             sb.put(TRIBE_NAME, entry.getKey());
+            sb.put("config.ignore_system_properties", true);
             if (sb.get("http.enabled") == null) {
                 sb.put("http.enabled", false);
             }
-            nodes.add(NodeBuilder.nodeBuilder().settings(sb).client(true).build());
+            nodes.add(NodeBuilder.nodeBuilder().settings(sb).client(true).loadConfigSettings(false).build());
         }
 
         String[] blockIndicesWrite = Strings.EMPTY_ARRAY;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c857820ea44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.elasticsearch.tribe;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.client.Client;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterState;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.node.DiscoveryNode;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.ImmutableSettings;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.node.Node;
+import org.elasticsearch.node.NodeBuilder;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ElasticsearchTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.InternalTestCluster;
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.either;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
+
+/**
+ * This test doesn't extend {@link org.elasticsearch.test.ElasticsearchIntegrationTest} as the internal cluster ignores system properties
+ * all the time, while we need to make the tribe node accept them in this case, so that we can verify that they are not read again as part
+ * of the tribe client nodes initialization. Note that the started nodes will obey to the 'node.mode' settings as the internal cluster does.
+ */
+public class TribeUnitTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
+
+    private static Node tribe1;
+    private static Node tribe2;
+
+    private static final String NODE_MODE = InternalTestCluster.nodeMode();
+
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void createTribes() {
+        tribe1 = NodeBuilder.nodeBuilder().settings(ImmutableSettings.builder().put("config.ignore_system_properties", true).put("http.enabled", false)
+                .put("node.mode", NODE_MODE).put("cluster.name", "tribe1").put("node.name", "tribe1_node")).node();
+        tribe2 = NodeBuilder.nodeBuilder().settings(ImmutableSettings.builder().put("config.ignore_system_properties", true).put("http.enabled", false)
+                .put("node.mode", NODE_MODE).put("cluster.name", "tribe2").put("node.name", "tribe2_node")).node();
+
+    }
+
+    @AfterClass
+    public static void closeTribes() {
+        tribe1.close();
+        tribe1 = null;
+        tribe2.close();
+        tribe2 = null;
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testThatTribeClientsIgnoreGlobalSysProps() throws Exception {
+        System.setProperty("es.cluster.name", "tribe_node_cluster");
+        System.setProperty("es.tribe.t1.cluster.name", "tribe1");
+        System.setProperty("es.tribe.t2.cluster.name", "tribe2");
+
+        try {
+            assertTribeNodeSuccesfullyCreated(ImmutableSettings.EMPTY);
+        } finally {
+            System.clearProperty("es.cluster.name");
+            System.clearProperty("es.tribe.t1.cluster.name");
+            System.clearProperty("es.tribe.t2.cluster.name");
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testThatTribeClientsIgnoreGlobalConfig() throws Exception {
+        Path pathConf = Paths.get(TribeUnitTests.class.getResource("elasticsearch.yml").toURI()).getParent();
+        Settings settings = ImmutableSettings.builder().put("config.ignore_system_properties", true).put("path.conf", pathConf).build();
+        assertTribeNodeSuccesfullyCreated(settings);
+    }
+
+    private static void assertTribeNodeSuccesfullyCreated(Settings extraSettings) throws Exception {
+        //tribe node doesn't need the node.mode setting, as it's forced local internally anyways. The tribe clients do need it to make sure
+        //they can find their corresponding tribes using the proper transport
+        Settings settings = ImmutableSettings.builder().put("http.enabled", false).put("node.name", "tribe_node")
+                .put("tribe.t1.node.mode", NODE_MODE).put("tribe.t2.node.mode", NODE_MODE).put(extraSettings).build();
+
+        try (Node node = NodeBuilder.nodeBuilder().settings(settings).node()) {
+            try (Client client = node.client()) {
+                assertBusy(new Runnable() {
+                    @Override
+                    public void run() {
+                        ClusterState state = client.admin().cluster().prepareState().clear().setNodes(true).get().getState();
+                        assertThat(state.getClusterName().value(), equalTo("tribe_node_cluster"));
+                        assertThat(state.getNodes().getSize(), equalTo(5));
+                        for (DiscoveryNode discoveryNode : state.getNodes()) {
+                            assertThat(discoveryNode.getName(), either(equalTo("tribe1_node")).or(equalTo("tribe2_node")).or(equalTo("tribe_node"))
+                                    .or(equalTo("tribe_node/t1")).or(equalTo("tribe_node/t2")));
+                        }
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/elasticsearch.yml b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/elasticsearch.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..89f4922a6af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/elasticsearch.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+cluster.name: tribe_node_cluster
+tribe.t1.cluster.name: tribe1
+tribe.t2.cluster.name: tribe2
\ No newline at end of file