diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/service/InternalIndexShard.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/service/InternalIndexShard.java
index 31594797cb7..9e66799ba0b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/service/InternalIndexShard.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/service/InternalIndexShard.java
@@ -82,7 +82,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.search.suggest.completion.Completion090PostingsFormat;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.suggest.completion.CompletionStats;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 
-import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
 import java.nio.channels.ClosedByInterruptException;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
@@ -457,16 +456,16 @@ public class InternalIndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements I
 
     @Override
     public DocsStats docStats() {
-        Engine.Searcher searcher = null;
         try {
-            searcher = engine.searcher();
-            return new DocsStats(searcher.reader().numDocs(), searcher.reader().numDeletedDocs());
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            return new DocsStats();
-        } finally {
-            if (searcher != null) {
+            final Engine.Searcher searcher = engine.searcher();
+            try {
+                return new DocsStats(searcher.reader().numDocs(), searcher.reader().numDeletedDocs());
+            } finally {
                 searcher.release();
             }
+        } catch (Throwable e) {
+            logger.debug("Can not docStats completion stats from engine shard state [{}]", e, state);
+            return new DocsStats();
         }
     }
 
@@ -489,7 +488,8 @@ public class InternalIndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements I
     public StoreStats storeStats() {
         try {
             return store.stats();
-        } catch (IOException e) {
+        } catch (Throwable e) {
+            logger.debug("Can not build store stats from engine shard state [{}]", e, state);
             return new StoreStats();
         }
     }
@@ -532,19 +532,22 @@ public class InternalIndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements I
     @Override
     public CompletionStats completionStats(String... fields) {
         CompletionStats completionStats = new CompletionStats();
-
-        Engine.Searcher searcher = engine().searcher();
-
-        try {
-            PostingsFormat postingsFormat = this.codecService.postingsFormatService().get(Completion090PostingsFormat.CODEC_NAME).get();
-            if (postingsFormat instanceof Completion090PostingsFormat) {
-                Completion090PostingsFormat completionPostingsFormat = (Completion090PostingsFormat) postingsFormat;
-                completionStats.add(completionPostingsFormat.completionStats(searcher().reader(), fields));
+        try{
+            final Engine.Searcher searcher = engine.searcher();
+            try {
+                PostingsFormat postingsFormat = this.codecService.postingsFormatService().get(Completion090PostingsFormat.CODEC_NAME).get();
+                if (postingsFormat instanceof Completion090PostingsFormat) {
+                    Completion090PostingsFormat completionPostingsFormat = (Completion090PostingsFormat) postingsFormat;
+                    completionStats.add(completionPostingsFormat.completionStats(searcher().reader(), fields));
+                }
+            } finally {
+                searcher.release();
             }
-        } finally {
-            searcher.release();
+        } catch (Throwable e) {
+            logger.debug("Can not build completion stats from engine shard state [{}]", e, state);
+            // if we are called during engine stop / start or before start we can run into Exceptions
+            // like the engine is already closed or no saercher is present at this point.
         }
-
         return completionStats;
     }