diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotLifecycleService.java b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotLifecycleService.java
index c0f8e651587..4529621dfcc 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotLifecycleService.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotLifecycleService.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import java.time.Clock;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ public class SnapshotLifecycleService implements LocalNodeMasterListener, Closea
     private final ClusterService clusterService;
     private final SnapshotLifecycleTask snapshotTask;
     private final Map<String, SchedulerEngine.Job> scheduledTasks = ConcurrentCollections.newConcurrentMap();
+    private final AtomicBoolean running = new AtomicBoolean(true);
     private volatile boolean isMaster = false;
 
     public SnapshotLifecycleService(Settings settings,
@@ -160,6 +162,10 @@ public class SnapshotLifecycleService implements LocalNodeMasterListener, Closea
      * the same version of a policy has already been scheduled it does not overwrite the job.
      */
     public void maybeScheduleSnapshot(final SnapshotLifecyclePolicyMetadata snapshotLifecyclePolicy) {
+        if (this.running.get() == false) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         final String jobId = getJobId(snapshotLifecyclePolicy);
         final Pattern existingJobPattern = Pattern.compile(snapshotLifecyclePolicy.getPolicy().getId() + JOB_PATTERN_SUFFIX);
 
@@ -237,6 +243,8 @@ public class SnapshotLifecycleService implements LocalNodeMasterListener, Closea
 
     @Override
     public void close() {
-        this.scheduler.stop();
+        if (this.running.compareAndSet(true, false)) {
+            this.scheduler.stop();
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotRetentionService.java b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotRetentionService.java
index 235df846b48..0eefbbf92ef 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotRetentionService.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotRetentionService.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.slm.SnapshotLifecyclePolicy;
 
 import java.io.Closeable;
 import java.time.Clock;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 
 /**
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ public class SnapshotRetentionService implements LocalNodeMasterListener, Closea
     private final SchedulerEngine scheduler;
     private final SnapshotRetentionTask retentionTask;
     private final Clock clock;
+    private final AtomicBoolean running = new AtomicBoolean(true);
 
     private volatile String slmRetentionSchedule;
     private volatile boolean isMaster = false;
@@ -81,7 +83,7 @@ public class SnapshotRetentionService implements LocalNodeMasterListener, Closea
 
     private void rescheduleRetentionJob() {
         final String schedule = this.slmRetentionSchedule;
-        if (this.isMaster && Strings.hasText(schedule)) {
+        if (this.running.get() && this.isMaster && Strings.hasText(schedule)) {
             final SchedulerEngine.Job retentionJob = new SchedulerEngine.Job(SLM_RETENTION_JOB_ID,
                 new CronSchedule(schedule));
             logger.debug("scheduling SLM retention job for [{}]", schedule);
@@ -113,6 +115,8 @@ public class SnapshotRetentionService implements LocalNodeMasterListener, Closea
 
     @Override
     public void close() {
-        this.scheduler.stop();
+        if (this.running.compareAndSet(true, false)) {
+            this.scheduler.stop();
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotLifecycleServiceTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotLifecycleServiceTests.java
index 2a8868c480c..8336e104821 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotLifecycleServiceTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotLifecycleServiceTests.java
@@ -133,6 +133,13 @@ public class SnapshotLifecycleServiceTests extends ESTestCase {
             // Since the service is stopped, jobs should have been cancelled
             assertThat(sls.getScheduler().scheduledJobIds(), equalTo(Collections.emptySet()));
 
+            // No jobs should be scheduled when service is closed
+            state = createState(new SnapshotLifecycleMetadata(policies, OperationMode.RUNNING, new SnapshotLifecycleStats()));
+            sls.close();
+            sls.onMaster();
+            sls.clusterChanged(new ClusterChangedEvent("1", state, emptyState));
+            assertThat(sls.getScheduler().scheduledJobIds(), equalTo(Collections.emptySet()));
+
             threadPool.shutdownNow();
         }
     }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotRetentionServiceTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotRetentionServiceTests.java
index 4a08c5d7917..1915a76fe1d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotRetentionServiceTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/slm/SnapshotRetentionServiceTests.java
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ public class SnapshotRetentionServiceTests extends ESTestCase {
 
             service.setUpdateSchedule("");
             assertThat(service.getScheduler().jobCount(), equalTo(0));
+
+            // Service should not scheduled any jobs once closed
+            service.close();
+            service.onMaster();
+            assertThat(service.getScheduler().jobCount(), equalTo(0));
+
             threadPool.shutdownNow();
         }
     }