diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/status/ShardStatus.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/status/ShardStatus.java
index 882b74d25b4..be39f8bd430 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/status/ShardStatus.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/status/ShardStatus.java
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ public class ShardStatus extends BroadcastShardOperationResponse {
 
         final long startTime;
 
-        final long took;
+        final long time;
 
         final long retryTime;
 
@@ -124,11 +124,11 @@ public class ShardStatus extends BroadcastShardOperationResponse {
 
         final long recoveredTranslogOperations;
 
-        public PeerRecoveryStatus(Stage stage, long startTime, long took, long retryTime, long indexSize, long reusedIndexSize,
+        public PeerRecoveryStatus(Stage stage, long startTime, long time, long retryTime, long indexSize, long reusedIndexSize,
                                   long recoveredIndexSize, long recoveredTranslogOperations) {
             this.stage = stage;
             this.startTime = startTime;
-            this.took = took;
+            this.time = time;
             this.retryTime = retryTime;
             this.indexSize = indexSize;
             this.reusedIndexSize = reusedIndexSize;
@@ -148,12 +148,12 @@ public class ShardStatus extends BroadcastShardOperationResponse {
             return this.startTime;
         }
 
-        public TimeValue took() {
-            return TimeValue.timeValueMillis(took);
+        public TimeValue time() {
+            return TimeValue.timeValueMillis(time);
         }
 
-        public TimeValue getTook() {
-            return took();
+        public TimeValue getTime() {
+            return time();
         }
 
         public TimeValue retryTime() {
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ public class ShardStatus extends BroadcastShardOperationResponse {
             out.writeBoolean(true);
             out.writeByte(peerRecoveryStatus.stage.value);
             out.writeVLong(peerRecoveryStatus.startTime);
-            out.writeVLong(peerRecoveryStatus.took);
+            out.writeVLong(peerRecoveryStatus.time);
             out.writeVLong(peerRecoveryStatus.retryTime);
             out.writeVLong(peerRecoveryStatus.indexSize);
             out.writeVLong(peerRecoveryStatus.reusedIndexSize);
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/status/TransportIndicesStatusAction.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/status/TransportIndicesStatusAction.java
index 466e4c9b356..e5db74b8c13 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/status/TransportIndicesStatusAction.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/indices/status/TransportIndicesStatusAction.java
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ public class TransportIndicesStatusAction extends TransportBroadcastOperationAct
                 default:
                     stage = ShardStatus.PeerRecoveryStatus.Stage.INIT;
             }
-            shardStatus.peerRecoveryStatus = new ShardStatus.PeerRecoveryStatus(stage, peerRecoveryStatus.startTime(), peerRecoveryStatus.took(),
+            shardStatus.peerRecoveryStatus = new ShardStatus.PeerRecoveryStatus(stage, peerRecoveryStatus.startTime(), peerRecoveryStatus.time(),
                     peerRecoveryStatus.retryTime(), peerRecoveryStatus.phase1TotalSize(), peerRecoveryStatus.phase1ExistingTotalSize(),
                     peerRecoveryStatus.currentFilesSize(), peerRecoveryStatus.currentTranslogOperations());
         }
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/PeerRecoveryStatus.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/PeerRecoveryStatus.java
index e64b99c4c56..1a5251badf3 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/PeerRecoveryStatus.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/PeerRecoveryStatus.java
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public class PeerRecoveryStatus {
     ConcurrentMap<String, IndexOutput> openIndexOutputs = ConcurrentCollections.newConcurrentMap();
 
     final long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
-    long took;
+    long time;
     volatile long retryTime = 0;
     List<String> phase1FileNames;
     List<Long> phase1FileSizes;
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ public class PeerRecoveryStatus {
         return startTime;
     }
 
-    public long took() {
-        return this.took;
+    public long time() {
+        return this.time;
     }
 
     public long retryTime() {
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
index b62574be15e..291e9d6ef71 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
@@ -103,7 +103,15 @@ public class RecoveryTarget extends AbstractComponent {
     }
 
     public PeerRecoveryStatus peerRecoveryStatus(ShardId shardId) {
-        return onGoingRecoveries.get(shardId);
+        PeerRecoveryStatus peerRecoveryStatus = onGoingRecoveries.get(shardId);
+        if (peerRecoveryStatus == null) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        // update how long it takes if we are still recovering...
+        if (peerRecoveryStatus.startTime > 0 && peerRecoveryStatus.stage != PeerRecoveryStatus.Stage.DONE) {
+            peerRecoveryStatus.time = System.currentTimeMillis() - peerRecoveryStatus.startTime;
+        }
+        return peerRecoveryStatus;
     }
 
     public void startRecovery(final StartRecoveryRequest request, final boolean fromRetry, final RecoveryListener listener) {
@@ -313,7 +321,7 @@ public class RecoveryTarget extends AbstractComponent {
             }
             peerRecoveryStatus.stage = PeerRecoveryStatus.Stage.FINALIZE;
             shard.performRecoveryFinalization(false, peerRecoveryStatus);
-            peerRecoveryStatus.took = System.currentTimeMillis() - peerRecoveryStatus.startTime;
+            peerRecoveryStatus.time = System.currentTimeMillis() - peerRecoveryStatus.startTime;
             peerRecoveryStatus.stage = PeerRecoveryStatus.Stage.DONE;
             channel.sendResponse(VoidStreamable.INSTANCE);
         }
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/admin/indices/status/RestIndicesStatusAction.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/admin/indices/status/RestIndicesStatusAction.java
index 7756ff2b4d1..7808bb50ca5 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/admin/indices/status/RestIndicesStatusAction.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/admin/indices/status/RestIndicesStatusAction.java
@@ -143,10 +143,8 @@ public class RestIndicesStatusAction extends BaseRestHandler {
                                     builder.startObject("peer_recovery");
                                     builder.field("stage", peerRecoveryStatus.stage());
                                     builder.field("start_time_in_millis", peerRecoveryStatus.startTime());
-                                    if (peerRecoveryStatus.took().millis() > 0) {
-                                        builder.field("took", peerRecoveryStatus.took());
-                                        builder.field("took_in_millis", peerRecoveryStatus.took().millis());
-                                    }
+                                    builder.field("time", peerRecoveryStatus.time());
+                                    builder.field("took_in_millis", peerRecoveryStatus.time().millis());
                                     builder.field("retry_time", peerRecoveryStatus.retryTime());
                                     builder.field("retry_time_in_millis", peerRecoveryStatus.retryTime().millis());