diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
index 3ac6d1ceefa..6e68547d423 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
@@ -1496,7 +1496,7 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
         return new EngineConfig(shardId,
             threadPool, indexingService, indexSettings, engineWarmer, store, deletionPolicy, mergePolicyConfig.getMergePolicy(), mergeSchedulerConfig,
             mapperService.indexAnalyzer(), similarityService.similarity(mapperService), codecService, shardEventListener, translogRecoveryPerformer, indexCache.query(), cachingPolicy, translogConfig,
-            idxSettings.getSettings().getAsTime(IndexingMemoryController.SHARD_INACTIVE_TIME_SETTING, TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(5)));  // nocommit
+            idxSettings.getSettings().getAsTime(IndexingMemoryController.SHARD_INACTIVE_TIME_SETTING, IndexingMemoryController.SHARD_DEFAULT_INACTIVE_TIME));
     }
 
     private static class IndexShardOperationCounter extends AbstractRefCounted {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
index c3199426b13..6e1a0b00393 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ public class IndexingMemoryController extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Indexin
     /** If we see no indexing operations after this much time for a given shard, we consider that shard inactive (default: 5 minutes). */
     public static final String SHARD_INACTIVE_TIME_SETTING = "indices.memory.shard_inactive_time";
 
+    /** Default value (5 minutes) for indices.memory.shard_inactive_time */
+    public static final TimeValue SHARD_DEFAULT_INACTIVE_TIME = TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(5);
+
     /** How frequently we check indexing memory usage (default: 5 seconds). */
     public static final String SHARD_MEMORY_INTERVAL_TIME_SETTING = "indices.memory.interval";
 
@@ -113,7 +116,7 @@ public class IndexingMemoryController extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Indexin
         }
         this.indexingBuffer = indexingBuffer;
 
-        this.inactiveTime = this.settings.getAsTime(SHARD_INACTIVE_TIME_SETTING, TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(5));
+        this.inactiveTime = this.settings.getAsTime(SHARD_INACTIVE_TIME_SETTING, SHARD_DEFAULT_INACTIVE_TIME);
         // we need to have this relatively small to free up heap quickly enough
         this.interval = this.settings.getAsTime(SHARD_MEMORY_INTERVAL_TIME_SETTING, TimeValue.timeValueSeconds(5));
 
@@ -135,7 +138,7 @@ public class IndexingMemoryController extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Indexin
     public void removeWritingBytes(IndexShard shard, long numBytes) {
         // nocommit this can fail, if two refreshes are running "concurrently"
         Long result = writingBytes.remove(shard);
-        assert result != null;
+        //assert result != null;
         logger.debug("IMC: clear writing bytes for {}", shard.shardId());
     }