diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/http/MockWebServer.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/http/MockWebServer.java
index 6e7f1b136a2..c15033a5292 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/http/MockWebServer.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/http/MockWebServer.java
@@ -113,8 +113,10 @@ public class MockWebServer implements Closeable {
                     byte[] responseAsBytes = response.getBody().getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
                     s.sendResponseHeaders(response.getStatusCode(), responseAsBytes.length);
                     sleepIfNeeded(response.getBodyDelay());
-                    try (OutputStream responseBody = s.getResponseBody()) {
-                        responseBody.write(responseAsBytes);
+                    if ("HEAD".equals(request.getMethod()) == false) {
+                        try (OutputStream responseBody = s.getResponseBody()) {
+                            responseBody.write(responseAsBytes);
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             } catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/common/http/HttpClientTests.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/common/http/HttpClientTests.java
index e8e987c70e6..389078a52a1 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/common/http/HttpClientTests.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/common/http/HttpClientTests.java
@@ -447,4 +447,40 @@ public class HttpClientTests extends ESTestCase {
         IOException e = expectThrows(IOException.class, () -> httpClient.execute(requestBuilder.build()));
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), startsWith("Maximum limit of"));
     }
+
+    public void testThatGetRedirectIsFollowed() throws Exception {
+        String redirectUrl = "http://" + webServer.getHostName() + ":" + webServer.getPort() + "/foo";
+        webServer.enqueue(new MockResponse().setResponseCode(302).addHeader("Location", redirectUrl));
+        HttpMethod method = randomFrom(HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.HEAD);
+
+        if (method == HttpMethod.GET) {
+            webServer.enqueue(new MockResponse().setResponseCode(200).setBody("shouldBeRead"));
+        } else if (method == HttpMethod.HEAD) {
+            webServer.enqueue(new MockResponse().setResponseCode(200));
+        }
+
+        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.builder("localhost", webServer.getPort()).path("/")
+                .method(method)
+                .build();
+        HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(request);
+
+        assertThat(webServer.requests(), hasSize(2));
+        if (method == HttpMethod.GET) {
+            assertThat(response.body().utf8ToString(), is("shouldBeRead"));
+        } else if (method == HttpMethod.HEAD) {
+            assertThat(response.body(), is(nullValue()));
+        }
+    }
+
+    // not allowed by RFC, only allowed for GET or HEAD
+    public void testThatPostRedirectIsNotFollowed() throws Exception {
+        String redirectUrl = "http://" + webServer.getHostName() + ":" + webServer.getPort() + "/foo";
+        webServer.enqueue(new MockResponse().setResponseCode(302).addHeader("Location", redirectUrl));
+        webServer.enqueue(new MockResponse().setResponseCode(200).setBody("shouldNeverBeRead"));
+
+        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.builder("localhost", webServer.getPort()).path("/").method(HttpMethod.POST).build();
+        HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(request);
+        assertThat(response.body(), is(nullValue()));
+        assertThat(webServer.requests(), hasSize(1));
+    }
 }