diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/ShardSearchFailure.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/ShardSearchFailure.java
index 4e2e0b43928..72ff8a56301 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/ShardSearchFailure.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/ShardSearchFailure.java
@@ -64,9 +64,13 @@ public class ShardSearchFailure implements ShardOperationFailedException {
     }
 
     public ShardSearchFailure(String reason, SearchShardTarget shardTarget) {
+        this(reason, shardTarget, RestStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
+    }
+
+    public ShardSearchFailure(String reason, SearchShardTarget shardTarget, RestStatus status) {
         this.shardTarget = shardTarget;
         this.reason = reason;
-        this.status = RestStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
+        this.status = status;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/type/TransportSearchTypeAction.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/type/TransportSearchTypeAction.java
index 2ac767ee80f..2fadc3b9cf4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/type/TransportSearchTypeAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/type/TransportSearchTypeAction.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.trove.ExtTIntArrayList;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ConcurrentCollections;
+import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestStatus;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchPhaseResult;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchShardTarget;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.action.SearchServiceListener;
@@ -251,7 +252,7 @@ public abstract class TransportSearchTypeAction extends TransportAction<SearchRe
                 // no more shards, add a failure
                 if (t == null) {
                     // no active shards
-                    addShardFailure(new ShardSearchFailure("No active shards", new SearchShardTarget(null, shardIt.shardId().index().name(), shardIt.shardId().id())));
+                    addShardFailure(new ShardSearchFailure("No active shards", new SearchShardTarget(null, shardIt.shardId().index().name(), shardIt.shardId().id()), RestStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE));
                 } else {
                     addShardFailure(new ShardSearchFailure(t));
                 }
@@ -293,7 +294,7 @@ public abstract class TransportSearchTypeAction extends TransportAction<SearchRe
                     }
                     if (t == null) {
                         // no active shards
-                        addShardFailure(new ShardSearchFailure("No active shards", new SearchShardTarget(null, shardIt.shardId().index().name(), shardIt.shardId().id())));
+                        addShardFailure(new ShardSearchFailure("No active shards", new SearchShardTarget(null, shardIt.shardId().index().name(), shardIt.shardId().id()), RestStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE));
                     } else {
                         addShardFailure(new ShardSearchFailure(t));
                     }