diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/indices/mapping/UpdateMappingTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/indices/mapping/UpdateMappingTests.java
index 0d2d2cb73e1..e256c1bce34 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/indices/mapping/UpdateMappingTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/indices/mapping/UpdateMappingTests.java
@@ -247,8 +247,10 @@ public class UpdateMappingTests extends AbstractSharedClusterTest {
         // Test that we can concurrently update different indexes and types.
         // NOTE: concurrently updating the mapping of the same type and index can still return before all (relevant) nodes are updated.
         //       The fix for that tracked on issues #3508
-        createIndex("test1");
-        createIndex("test2");
+        int shardNo = Math.max(5, numberOfNodes());
+
+        prepareCreate("test1").setSettings("index.number_of_shards", shardNo).execute().actionGet();
+        prepareCreate("test2").setSettings("index.number_of_shards", shardNo).execute().actionGet();
 
         final Throwable[] threadException = new Throwable[1];
         final AtomicBoolean stop = new AtomicBoolean(false);