diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/get/TransportGetTaskAction.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/get/TransportGetTaskAction.java
index 769676bcd6d..0a869ff296a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/get/TransportGetTaskAction.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/get/TransportGetTaskAction.java
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.AbstractRunnable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexNotFoundException;
+import org.elasticsearch.tasks.PersistedTaskInfo;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.Task;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.TaskId;
-import org.elasticsearch.tasks.PersistedTaskInfo;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.TaskPersistenceService;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.BaseTransportResponseHandler;
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportService;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.node.tasks.list.TransportListTasksAction.waitForCompletionTimeout;
-import static org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.node.tasks.list.TransportListTasksAction.waitForTaskCompletion;
 
 /**
  * Action to get a single task. If the task isn't running then it'll try to request the status from request index.
@@ -148,7 +147,7 @@ public class TransportGetTaskAction extends HandledTransportAction<GetTaskReques
                 threadPool.generic().execute(new AbstractRunnable() {
                     @Override
                     protected void doRun() throws Exception {
-                        waitForTaskCompletion(taskManager, runningTask, waitForCompletionTimeout(request.getTimeout()));
+                        taskManager.waitForTaskCompletion(runningTask, waitForCompletionTimeout(request.getTimeout()));
                         // TODO look up the task's result from the .tasks index now that it is done
                         listener.onResponse(
                                 new GetTaskResponse(new PersistedTaskInfo(runningTask.taskInfo(clusterService.localNode(), true))));
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/list/TransportListTasksAction.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/list/TransportListTasksAction.java
index 7d6d122bbb7..9acdcff81c9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/list/TransportListTasksAction.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/list/TransportListTasksAction.java
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.node.tasks.list;
 
-import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
-import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchTimeoutException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.FailedNodeException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.TaskOperationFailure;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.ActionFilters;
@@ -34,7 +32,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.Task;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.TaskInfo;
-import org.elasticsearch.tasks.TaskManager;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportService;
 
@@ -42,26 +39,12 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 
-import static org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue.timeValueMillis;
 import static org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue.timeValueSeconds;
 
 /**
  *
  */
 public class TransportListTasksAction extends TransportTasksAction<Task, ListTasksRequest, ListTasksResponse, TaskInfo> {
-    public static void waitForTaskCompletion(TaskManager taskManager, Task task, long untilInNanos) {
-        while (System.nanoTime() - untilInNanos < 0) {
-            if (taskManager.getTask(task.getId()) == null) {
-                return;
-            }
-            try {
-                Thread.sleep(WAIT_FOR_COMPLETION_POLL.millis());
-            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
-                throw new ElasticsearchException("Interrupted waiting for completion of [{}]", e, task);
-            }
-        }
-        throw new ElasticsearchTimeoutException("Timed out waiting for completion of [{}]", task);
-    }
     public static long waitForCompletionTimeout(TimeValue timeout) {
         if (timeout == null) {
             timeout = DEFAULT_WAIT_FOR_COMPLETION_TIMEOUT;
@@ -69,7 +52,6 @@ public class TransportListTasksAction extends TransportTasksAction<Task, ListTas
         return System.nanoTime() + timeout.nanos();
     }
 
-    private static final TimeValue WAIT_FOR_COMPLETION_POLL = timeValueMillis(100);
     private static final TimeValue DEFAULT_WAIT_FOR_COMPLETION_TIMEOUT = timeValueSeconds(30);
 
     @Inject
@@ -105,7 +87,7 @@ public class TransportListTasksAction extends TransportTasksAction<Task, ListTas
                     // for itself or one of its child tasks
                     return;
                 }
-                waitForTaskCompletion(taskManager, task, timeoutNanos);
+                taskManager.waitForTaskCompletion(task, timeoutNanos);
             });
         }
         super.processTasks(request, operation);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tasks/TaskManager.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tasks/TaskManager.java
index 045522f3288..95adc850f82 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tasks/TaskManager.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tasks/TaskManager.java
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.tasks;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
+import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchTimeoutException;
 import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionResponse;
@@ -28,6 +30,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.cluster.node.DiscoveryNode;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.node.DiscoveryNodes;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.component.AbstractComponent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ConcurrentCollections;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMapLong;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportRequest;
@@ -43,10 +46,13 @@ import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 
+import static org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue.timeValueMillis;
+
 /**
  * Task Manager service for keeping track of currently running tasks on the nodes
  */
 public class TaskManager extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListener {
+    private static final TimeValue WAIT_FOR_COMPLETION_POLL = timeValueMillis(100);
 
     private final ConcurrentMapLong<Task> tasks = ConcurrentCollections.newConcurrentMapLongWithAggressiveConcurrency();
 
@@ -341,6 +347,23 @@ public class TaskManager extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListen
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Blocks the calling thread, waiting for the task to vanish from the TaskManager.
+     */
+    public void waitForTaskCompletion(Task task, long untilInNanos) {
+        while (System.nanoTime() - untilInNanos < 0) {
+            if (getTask(task.getId()) == null) {
+                return;
+            }
+            try {
+                Thread.sleep(WAIT_FOR_COMPLETION_POLL.millis());
+            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                throw new ElasticsearchException("Interrupted waiting for completion of [{}]", e, task);
+            }
+        }
+        throw new ElasticsearchTimeoutException("Timed out waiting for completion of [{}]", task);
+    }
+
     private static class CancellableTaskHolder {
 
         private static final String TASK_FINISHED_MARKER = "task finished";
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/RecordingTaskManagerListener.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/RecordingTaskManagerListener.java
index 2aad88c99a9..656a5ab9ec4 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/RecordingTaskManagerListener.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/RecordingTaskManagerListener.java
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ public class RecordingTaskManagerListener implements MockTaskManagerListener {
         }
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public void waitForTaskCompletion(Task task) {
+    }
+
     public synchronized List<Tuple<Boolean, TaskInfo>> getEvents() {
         return Collections.unmodifiableList(new ArrayList<>(events));
     }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/TasksIT.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/TasksIT.java
index a2938876942..4c720536d0c 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/TasksIT.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/tasks/TasksIT.java
@@ -363,6 +363,10 @@ public class TasksIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
                         taskFinishLock.lock();
                         taskFinishLock.unlock();
                     }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void waitForTaskCompletion(Task task) {
+                    }
                 });
             }
             indexFuture = client().prepareIndex("test", "test").setSource("test", "test").execute();
@@ -470,8 +474,30 @@ public class TasksIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
             // Wait for the task to start
             assertBusy(() -> client().admin().cluster().prepareGetTask(taskId).get());
 
-            // Spin up a request to wait for that task to finish
+            // Register listeners so we can be sure the waiting started
+            CountDownLatch waitForWaitingToStart = new CountDownLatch(1);
+            for (TransportService transportService : internalCluster().getInstances(TransportService.class)) {
+                ((MockTaskManager) transportService.getTaskManager()).addListener(new MockTaskManagerListener() {
+                    @Override
+                    public void waitForTaskCompletion(Task task) {
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void onTaskRegistered(Task task) {
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void onTaskUnregistered(Task task) {
+                        waitForWaitingToStart.countDown();
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+
+            // Spin up a request to wait for the test task to finish
             waitResponseFuture = wait.apply(taskId);
+
+            // Wait for the wait to start
+            waitForWaitingToStart.await();
         } finally {
             // Unblock the request so the wait for completion request can finish
             TestTaskPlugin.UnblockTestTasksAction.INSTANCE.newRequestBuilder(client()).get();
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/tasks/MockTaskManager.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/tasks/MockTaskManager.java
index fc090e151a3..b0d16d10c49 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/tasks/MockTaskManager.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/tasks/MockTaskManager.java
@@ -75,6 +75,18 @@ public class MockTaskManager extends TaskManager {
         return removedTask;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public void waitForTaskCompletion(Task task, long untilInNanos) {
+        for (MockTaskManagerListener listener : listeners) {
+            try {
+                listener.waitForTaskCompletion(task);
+            } catch (Throwable t) {
+                logger.warn("failed to notify task manager listener about waitForTaskCompletion the task with id {}", t, task.getId());
+            }
+        }
+        super.waitForTaskCompletion(task, untilInNanos);
+    }
+
     public void addListener(MockTaskManagerListener listener) {
         listeners.add(listener);
     }
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/tasks/MockTaskManagerListener.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/tasks/MockTaskManagerListener.java
index d10dd357999..ede880c8f54 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/tasks/MockTaskManagerListener.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/tasks/MockTaskManagerListener.java
@@ -28,4 +28,6 @@ public interface MockTaskManagerListener {
     void onTaskRegistered(Task task);
 
     void onTaskUnregistered(Task task);
+
+    void waitForTaskCompletion(Task task);
 }