diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/util/concurrent/EsExecutors.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/util/concurrent/EsExecutors.java
index 29cd7f6682a..7b304cd092a 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/util/concurrent/EsExecutors.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/util/concurrent/EsExecutors.java
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ public class EsExecutors {
      */
     public static Throwable rethrowErrors(Runnable runnable) {
         if (runnable instanceof RunnableFuture) {
+            assert ((RunnableFuture) runnable).isDone();
             try {
                 ((RunnableFuture) runnable).get();
             } catch (final Exception e) {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/threadpool/Scheduler.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/threadpool/Scheduler.java
index 588495dd27d..04741cd87d0 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/threadpool/Scheduler.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/threadpool/Scheduler.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.EsRejectedExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.Delayed;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
 import java.util.concurrent.RejectedExecutionHandler;
+import java.util.concurrent.RunnableFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor;
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
@@ -276,7 +277,11 @@ public interface Scheduler {
             if (t != null) return;
             // Scheduler only allows Runnable's so we expect no checked exceptions here. If anyone uses submit directly on `this`, we
             // accept the wrapped exception in the output.
-            ExceptionsHelper.reThrowIfNotNull(EsExecutors.rethrowErrors(r));
+            if (r instanceof RunnableFuture && ((RunnableFuture<?>) r).isDone()) {
+                // only check this if task is done, which it always is except for periodic tasks. Periodic tasks will hang on
+                // RunnableFuture.get()
+                ExceptionsHelper.reThrowIfNotNull(EsExecutors.rethrowErrors(r));
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/threadpool/SchedulerTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/threadpool/SchedulerTests.java
index 186f9e86b1e..2f025143309 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/threadpool/SchedulerTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/threadpool/SchedulerTests.java
@@ -153,4 +153,16 @@ public class SchedulerTests extends ESTestCase {
             Scheduler.terminate(executor, 10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
         }
     }
+
+    public void testScheduleAtFixedRate() throws InterruptedException {
+        ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor executor = Scheduler.initScheduler(Settings.EMPTY);
+        try {
+            CountDownLatch missingExecutions = new CountDownLatch(randomIntBetween(1, 10));
+            executor.scheduleAtFixedRate(missingExecutions::countDown,
+                randomIntBetween(1, 10), randomIntBetween(1, 10), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+            assertTrue(missingExecutions.await(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+        } finally {
+            Scheduler.terminate(executor, 10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        }
+    }
 }