diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
index 80c427c9cdc..5eecafa252f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.store.FsDirectoryService;
 import org.elasticsearch.monitor.fs.FsInfo;
 import org.elasticsearch.monitor.fs.FsProbe;
 import org.elasticsearch.monitor.jvm.JvmInfo;
+import org.elasticsearch.monitor.process.ProcessProbe;
 
 import java.io.Closeable;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -221,6 +222,7 @@ public class NodeEnvironment extends AbstractComponent implements Closeable {
 
         maybeLogPathDetails();
         maybeLogHeapDetails();
+        maybeWarnFileDescriptors();
 
         applySegmentInfosTrace(settings);
     }
@@ -313,6 +315,20 @@ public class NodeEnvironment extends AbstractComponent implements Closeable {
         logger.info("heap size [{}], compressed ordinary object pointers [{}]", maxHeapSize, useCompressedOops);
     }
 
+    private void maybeWarnFileDescriptors() {
+        long maxFileDescriptorCount = ProcessProbe.getInstance().getMaxFileDescriptorCount();
+        if (maxFileDescriptorCount == -1) {
+            return;
+        }
+        int fileDescriptorCountThreshold = (1 << 16);
+        if (maxFileDescriptorCount < fileDescriptorCountThreshold) {
+            logger.warn(
+                    "max file descriptors [{}] for elasticsearch process likely too low, consider increasing to at least [{}]",
+                    maxFileDescriptorCount,
+                    fileDescriptorCountThreshold);
+        }
+    }
+
     @SuppressForbidden(reason = "System.out.*")
     static void applySegmentInfosTrace(Settings settings) {
         if (ENABLE_LUCENE_SEGMENT_INFOS_TRACE_SETTING.get(settings)) {