diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ElasticsearchIntegrationTest.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ElasticsearchIntegrationTest.java
index 337b294fba0..37ba4eaa290 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ElasticsearchIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ElasticsearchIntegrationTest.java
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders.matchAllQuery;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.TestCluster.clusterName;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertAcked;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertNoFailures;
+import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertNoTimeout;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.emptyIterable;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 
@@ -504,6 +505,7 @@ public abstract class ElasticsearchIntegrationTest extends ElasticsearchTestCase
                     assertThat("test leaves transient cluster metadata behind: " + metaData.transientSettings().getAsMap(), metaData
                             .transientSettings().getAsMap().size(), equalTo(0));
                 }
+                ensureClusterSizeConsistency();
                 immutableCluster().wipe(); // wipe after to make sure we fail in the test that didn't ack the delete
                 immutableCluster().assertAfterTest();
             } finally {
@@ -837,6 +839,9 @@ public abstract class ElasticsearchIntegrationTest extends ElasticsearchTestCase
         return actionGet.getStatus();
     }
 
+    private void ensureClusterSizeConsistency() {
+        assertNoTimeout(client().admin().cluster().prepareHealth().setWaitForNodes(Integer.toString(immutableCluster().size())).get());
+    }
 
     /**
      * Ensures the cluster is in a searchable state for the given indices. This means a searchable copy of each
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/TestCluster.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/TestCluster.java
index 2a10c947da4..33b789c29e3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/TestCluster.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/TestCluster.java
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ import static org.apache.lucene.util.LuceneTestCase.rarely;
 import static org.apache.lucene.util.LuceneTestCase.usually;
 import static org.elasticsearch.common.settings.ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder;
 import static org.elasticsearch.node.NodeBuilder.nodeBuilder;
+import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertNoTimeout;
 
 /**
  * TestCluster manages a set of JVM private nodes and allows convenient access to them.
@@ -397,6 +398,11 @@ public final class TestCluster extends ImmutableTestCluster {
         } catch (Exception e) {
             throw new ElasticsearchException("failed to start nodes", e);
         }
+        if (!futures.isEmpty()) {
+            synchronized (this) {
+                assertNoTimeout(client().admin().cluster().prepareHealth().setWaitForNodes(Integer.toString(nodes.size())).get());
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -424,6 +430,9 @@ public final class TestCluster extends ImmutableTestCluster {
         for (NodeAndClient toRemove : nodesToRemove) {
             nodes.remove(toRemove.name);
         }
+        if (!nodesToRemove.isEmpty() && size() > 0) {
+            assertNoTimeout(client().admin().cluster().prepareHealth().setWaitForNodes(Integer.toString(nodes.size())).get());
+        }
     }
 
     private NodeAndClient buildNode(Settings settings, Version version) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeTests.java
index 769b1848f0b..07f1f775586 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeTests.java
@@ -346,4 +346,4 @@ public class TribeTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
         }
         return count;
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file