diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
index bdd68ed6a61..0bda582ee3f 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ public class NettyTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implem
         this.tcpSendBufferSize = componentSettings.getAsBytesSize("tcp_send_buffer_size", settings.getAsBytesSize(TCP_SEND_BUFFER_SIZE, TCP_DEFAULT_SEND_BUFFER_SIZE));
         this.tcpReceiveBufferSize = componentSettings.getAsBytesSize("tcp_receive_buffer_size", settings.getAsBytesSize(TCP_RECEIVE_BUFFER_SIZE, TCP_DEFAULT_RECEIVE_BUFFER_SIZE));
         this.connectionsPerNodeLow = componentSettings.getAsInt("connections_per_node.low", settings.getAsInt("transport.connections_per_node.low", 2));
-        this.connectionsPerNodeMed = componentSettings.getAsInt("connections_per_node.med", settings.getAsInt("transport.connections_per_node.med", 7));
+        this.connectionsPerNodeMed = componentSettings.getAsInt("connections_per_node.med", settings.getAsInt("transport.connections_per_node.med", 4));
         this.connectionsPerNodeHigh = componentSettings.getAsInt("connections_per_node.high", settings.getAsInt("transport.connections_per_node.high", 1));
 
         logger.debug("using worker_count[{}], port[{}], bind_host[{}], publish_host[{}], compress[{}], connect_timeout[{}], connections_per_node[{}/{}/{}]",