diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/single/shard/TransportShardSingleOperationAction.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/single/shard/TransportShardSingleOperationAction.java
index 4c9f8b28832..35d627c03c1 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/single/shard/TransportShardSingleOperationAction.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/support/single/shard/TransportShardSingleOperationAction.java
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ public abstract class TransportShardSingleOperationAction<Request extends Single
                     failure = new NoShardAvailableActionException(shardIt.shardId(), "No shard available for [" + request + "]");
                 } else {
                     if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
-                        logger.debug(shardIt.shardId() + ": Failed to get [{}]", failure, request);
+                        logger.debug(shardIt.shardId() + ": Failed to execute [{}]", failure, request);
                     }
                 }
                 listener.onFailure(failure);
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClientNodesService.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClientNodesService.java
index e110413adea..a5f308b60e5 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClientNodesService.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClientNodesService.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.client.transport;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticSearchException;
+import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.TransportActions;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.node.info.NodeInfo;
@@ -152,8 +153,10 @@ public class TransportClientNodesService extends AbstractComponent {
             DiscoveryNode node = nodes.get((index + i) % nodes.size());
             try {
                 return callback.doWithNode(node);
-            } catch (ConnectTransportException e) {
-                // retry in this case
+            } catch (ElasticSearchException e) {
+                if (!(e.unwrapCause() instanceof ConnectTransportException)) {
+                    throw e;
+                }
             }
         }
         throw new NoNodeAvailableException();
@@ -172,8 +175,12 @@ public class TransportClientNodesService extends AbstractComponent {
         RetryListener<Response> retryListener = new RetryListener<Response>(callback, listener, nodes, index);
         try {
             callback.doWithNode(nodes.get((index) % nodes.size()), retryListener);
-        } catch (ConnectTransportException e) {
-            retryListener.onFailure(e);
+        } catch (ElasticSearchException e) {
+            if (e.unwrapCause() instanceof ConnectTransportException) {
+                retryListener.onFailure(e);
+            } else {
+                throw e;
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -197,7 +204,7 @@ public class TransportClientNodesService extends AbstractComponent {
         }
 
         @Override public void onFailure(Throwable e) {
-            if (e instanceof ConnectTransportException) {
+            if (ExceptionsHelper.unwrapCause(e) instanceof ConnectTransportException) {
                 int i = ++this.i;
                 if (i == nodes.size()) {
                     listener.onFailure(new NoNodeAvailableException());
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/node/DiscoveryNodes.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/node/DiscoveryNodes.java
index e4b77309faf..c2051d00cce 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/node/DiscoveryNodes.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/node/DiscoveryNodes.java
@@ -187,9 +187,15 @@ public class DiscoveryNodes implements Iterable<DiscoveryNode> {
             Set<String> resolvedNodesIds = new HashSet<String>(nodesIds.length);
             for (String nodeId : nodesIds) {
                 if (nodeId.equals("_local")) {
-                    resolvedNodesIds.add(localNodeId());
+                    String localNodeId = localNodeId();
+                    if (localNodeId != null) {
+                        resolvedNodesIds.add(localNodeId);
+                    }
                 } else if (nodeId.equals("_master")) {
-                    resolvedNodesIds.add(masterNodeId());
+                    String masterNodeId = masterNodeId();
+                    if (masterNodeId != null) {
+                        resolvedNodesIds.add(masterNodeId);
+                    }
                 } else if (nodeExists(nodeId)) {
                     resolvedNodesIds.add(nodeId);
                 } else {