diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/Engine.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/Engine.java
index 5eba1a29fc6..ac065583868 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/Engine.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/Engine.java
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ public abstract class Engine implements Closeable {
     }
 
     /** returns the translog for this engine */
-    public abstract Translog translog();
+    public abstract Translog getTranslog();
 
     protected void ensureOpen() {
         if (isClosed.get()) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
index b886673f977..bb8006ad6b9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.ByteSizeUnit;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.ByteSizeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.BigArray;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.BigArrays;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.EsExecutors;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.codec.CodecService;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.deletionpolicy.SnapshotDeletionPolicy;
@@ -39,9 +41,12 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.settings.IndexSettingsService;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.ShardId;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.TranslogRecoveryPerformer;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.store.Store;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.fs.FsTranslog;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesWarmer;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 /*
@@ -77,6 +82,8 @@ public final class EngineConfig {
     private final boolean ignoreUnknownTranslog;
     private final QueryCache filterCache;
     private final QueryCachingPolicy filterCachingPolicy;
+    private final BigArrays bigArrays;
+    private final Path translogPath;
 
     /**
      * Index setting for index concurrency / number of threadstates in the indexwriter.
@@ -139,10 +146,10 @@ public final class EngineConfig {
      * Creates a new {@link org.elasticsearch.index.engine.EngineConfig}
      */
     public EngineConfig(ShardId shardId, ThreadPool threadPool, ShardIndexingService indexingService,
-            IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, IndicesWarmer warmer, Store store, SnapshotDeletionPolicy deletionPolicy,
-            MergePolicyProvider mergePolicyProvider, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeScheduler, Analyzer analyzer,
-            Similarity similarity, CodecService codecService, Engine.FailedEngineListener failedEngineListener,
-            TranslogRecoveryPerformer translogRecoveryPerformer, QueryCache filterCache, QueryCachingPolicy filterCachingPolicy) {
+                        IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, IndicesWarmer warmer, Store store, SnapshotDeletionPolicy deletionPolicy,
+                        MergePolicyProvider mergePolicyProvider, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeScheduler, Analyzer analyzer,
+                        Similarity similarity, CodecService codecService, Engine.FailedEngineListener failedEngineListener,
+                        TranslogRecoveryPerformer translogRecoveryPerformer, QueryCache filterCache, QueryCachingPolicy filterCachingPolicy, BigArrays bigArrays, Path translogPath) {
         this.shardId = shardId;
         this.threadPool = threadPool;
         this.indexingService = indexingService;
@@ -156,6 +163,8 @@ public final class EngineConfig {
         this.similarity = similarity;
         this.codecService = codecService;
         this.failedEngineListener = failedEngineListener;
+        this.bigArrays = bigArrays;
+        this.translogPath = translogPath;
         Settings indexSettings = indexSettingsService.getSettings();
         this.optimizeAutoGenerateId = indexSettings.getAsBoolean(EngineConfig.INDEX_OPTIMIZE_AUTOGENERATED_ID_SETTING, false);
         this.compoundOnFlush = indexSettings.getAsBoolean(EngineConfig.INDEX_COMPOUND_ON_FLUSH, compoundOnFlush);
@@ -421,4 +430,25 @@ public final class EngineConfig {
     public QueryCachingPolicy getFilterCachingPolicy() {
         return filterCachingPolicy;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a BigArrays instance for this engine
+     */
+    public BigArrays getBigArrays() {
+        return bigArrays;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the translog path for this engine
+     */
+    public Path getTranslogPath() {
+        return translogPath;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the {@link org.elasticsearch.index.settings.IndexSettingsService} for this engine.
+     */
+    public IndexSettingsService getIndesSettingService() {
+        return indexSettingsService;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineFactory.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineFactory.java
index 72a80306160..b29148edff5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineFactory.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineFactory.java
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.fs.FsTranslog;
  */
 public interface EngineFactory {
 
-    public Engine newReadWriteEngine(EngineConfig config, FsTranslog translog, boolean skipTranslogRecovery);
+    public Engine newReadWriteEngine(EngineConfig config, boolean skipTranslogRecovery);
 
     public Engine newReadOnlyEngine(EngineConfig config);
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
index e03cb7b97f6..0ee9cbc7772 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
@@ -104,19 +104,18 @@ public class InternalEngine extends Engine {
 
     private final IndexThrottle throttle;
 
-    public InternalEngine(EngineConfig engineConfig, FsTranslog translog, boolean skipInitialTranslogRecovery) throws EngineException {
+    public InternalEngine(EngineConfig engineConfig, boolean skipInitialTranslogRecovery) throws EngineException {
         super(engineConfig);
-        Preconditions.checkNotNull(translog, "Translog must be provided to the engine");
         this.versionMap = new LiveVersionMap();
         store.incRef();
         IndexWriter writer = null;
+        FsTranslog translog = null;
         SearcherManager manager = null;
         boolean success = false;
         try {
             this.lastDeleteVersionPruneTimeMSec = engineConfig.getThreadPool().estimatedTimeInMillis();
             this.indexingService = engineConfig.getIndexingService();
             this.warmer = engineConfig.getWarmer();
-            this.translog = translog;
             this.mergePolicyProvider = engineConfig.getMergePolicyProvider();
             this.mergeScheduler = engineConfig.getMergeScheduler();
             this.dirtyLocks = new Object[engineConfig.getIndexConcurrency() * 50]; // we multiply it to have enough...
@@ -130,10 +129,12 @@ public class InternalEngine extends Engine {
             try {
                 writer = createWriter();
                 indexWriter = writer;
+                translog = new FsTranslog(engineConfig.getShardId(), engineConfig.getIndesSettingService(), engineConfig.getBigArrays(), engineConfig.getTranslogPath(), engineConfig.getThreadPool());
                 committedTranslogId = loadCommittedTranslogId(writer, translog);
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 throw new EngineCreationFailureException(shardId, "failed to create engine", e);
             }
+            this.translog = translog;
             manager = createSearcherManager();
             this.searcherManager = manager;
             this.versionMap.setManager(searcherManager);
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@ public class InternalEngine extends Engine {
             success = true;
         } finally {
             if (success == false) {
-                IOUtils.closeWhileHandlingException(writer, manager);
+                IOUtils.closeWhileHandlingException(writer, translog, manager);
                 versionMap.clear();
                 if (isClosed.get() == false) {
                     // failure we need to dec the store reference
@@ -166,7 +167,7 @@ public class InternalEngine extends Engine {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Translog translog() {
+    public Translog getTranslog() {
         ensureOpen();
         return translog;
     }
@@ -913,7 +914,6 @@ public class InternalEngine extends Engine {
             assert rwl.isWriteLockedByCurrentThread() || failEngineLock.isHeldByCurrentThread() : "Either the write lock must be held or the engine must be currently be failing itself";
             try {
                 this.versionMap.clear();
-                logger.trace("close searcherManager");
                 try {
                     IOUtils.close(searcherManager);
                 } catch (Throwable t) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineFactory.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineFactory.java
index 6ac375bc02b..c9c13e3d879 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineFactory.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineFactory.java
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.fs.FsTranslog;
 
 public class InternalEngineFactory implements EngineFactory {
     @Override
-    public Engine newReadWriteEngine(EngineConfig config, FsTranslog translog, boolean skipTranslogRecovery) {
-        return new InternalEngine(config, translog, skipTranslogRecovery);
+    public Engine newReadWriteEngine(EngineConfig config, boolean skipTranslogRecovery) {
+        return new InternalEngine(config, skipTranslogRecovery);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/ShadowEngine.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/ShadowEngine.java
index 1e68e7bcdf2..d967d3f8b8d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/ShadowEngine.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/ShadowEngine.java
@@ -169,8 +169,8 @@ public class ShadowEngine extends Engine {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Translog translog() {
-        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("shard engines don't have translogs");
+    public Translog getTranslog() {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("shadow engines don't have translogs");
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
index 79fd9024ee1..56b63f4ca44 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
@@ -101,7 +101,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.suggest.stats.SuggestStats;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.termvectors.ShardTermVectorsService;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.Translog;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.TranslogStats;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.fs.FsTranslog;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.warmer.ShardIndexWarmerService;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.warmer.WarmerStats;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesLifecycle;
@@ -259,8 +258,8 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
         return true;
     }
 
-    public Translog translog() {
-        return engine().translog();
+    public Translog.View newTranslogView() {
+        return engine().getTranslog().newView();
     }
 
     public ShardIndexingService indexingService() {
@@ -655,7 +654,7 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
     }
 
     public TranslogStats translogStats() {
-        return engine().translog().stats();
+        return engine().getTranslog().stats();
     }
 
     public SuggestStats suggestStats() {
@@ -817,12 +816,18 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
      * After the store has been recovered, we need to start the engine. This method starts a new engine but skips
      * the replay of the transaction log which is required in cases where we restore a previous index or recover from
      * a remote peer.
+     *
+     * @param wipeTranslogs if set to <code>true</code> all skipped / uncommitted translogs are removed.
      */
-    public void skipTranslogRecovery() {
+    public void skipTranslogRecovery(boolean wipeTranslogs) throws IOException {
         assert engineUnsafe() == null : "engine was already created";
         Map<String, Mapping> recoveredTypes = internalPerformTranslogRecovery(true);
         assert recoveredTypes.isEmpty();
         assert recoveryState.getTranslog().recoveredOperations() == 0;
+        if (wipeTranslogs) {
+            final Translog translog = engine().getTranslog();
+            translog.markCommitted(translog.currentId());
+        }
     }
 
     /** called if recovery has to be restarted after network error / delay ** */
@@ -964,7 +969,7 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
         }
         Engine engine = engineUnsafe();
         if (engine != null) {
-            engine.translog().updateBuffer(shardTranslogBufferSize);
+            engine.getTranslog().updateBuffer(shardTranslogBufferSize);
         }
     }
 
@@ -1218,21 +1223,7 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
     }
 
     protected Engine newEngine(boolean skipTranslogRecovery, EngineConfig config) {
-        final FsTranslog translog;
-        try {
-            translog = new FsTranslog(shardId, indexSettingsService, bigArrays, path, threadPool);
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new EngineCreationFailureException(shardId, "failed to create translog", e);
-        }
-        Engine engine = null;
-        try {
-            engine = engineFactory.newReadWriteEngine(config, translog, skipTranslogRecovery);
-        } finally {
-            if (engine == null) {
-                IOUtils.closeWhileHandlingException(translog);
-            }
-        }
-        return engine;
+        return engineFactory.newReadWriteEngine(config, skipTranslogRecovery);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -1293,6 +1284,6 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
         };
         return new EngineConfig(shardId,
                 threadPool, indexingService, indexSettingsService, warmer, store, deletionPolicy, mergePolicyProvider, mergeScheduler,
-                mapperAnalyzer, similarityService.similarity(), codecService, failedEngineListener, translogRecoveryPerformer, indexCache.filter(), indexCache.filterPolicy());
+                mapperAnalyzer, similarityService.similarity(), codecService, failedEngineListener, translogRecoveryPerformer, indexCache.filter(), indexCache.filterPolicy(), bigArrays, shardPath().resolveTranslog());
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
index 7b6109a34d4..9f5537856e6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
@@ -121,10 +121,4 @@ public final class ShadowIndexShard extends IndexShard {
     public boolean allowsPrimaryPromotion() {
         return false;
     }
-
-    @Override
-    @Nullable
-    public Translog translog() {
-        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("shadow shards don't have a translog");
-    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/snapshots/IndexShardSnapshotAndRestoreService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/snapshots/IndexShardSnapshotAndRestoreService.java
index 7c698457605..de183c02e9f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/snapshots/IndexShardSnapshotAndRestoreService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/snapshots/IndexShardSnapshotAndRestoreService.java
@@ -125,8 +125,7 @@ public class IndexShardSnapshotAndRestoreService extends AbstractIndexShardCompo
                 snapshotShardId = new ShardId(restoreSource.index(), shardId.id());
             }
             indexShardRepository.restore(restoreSource.snapshotId(), shardId, snapshotShardId, recoveryState);
-            indexShard.skipTranslogRecovery();
-            indexShard.translog().markCommitted(indexShard.translog().currentId());
+            indexShard.skipTranslogRecovery(true);
             indexShard.finalizeRecovery();
             indexShard.postRecovery("restore done");
             restoreService.indexShardRestoreCompleted(restoreSource.snapshotId(), shardId);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/TranslogService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/TranslogService.java
index 724f9854bf3..633aeae2e83 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/TranslogService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/TranslogService.java
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ public class TranslogService extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements Clos
                 return;
             }
 
-            if (indexShard.translog() == null) {
+            if (indexShard.engine().getTranslog() == null) {
                 reschedule();
                 return;
             }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/fs/FsTranslog.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/fs/FsTranslog.java
index 3fab0e20d8c..4fbca30cec1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/fs/FsTranslog.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/translog/fs/FsTranslog.java
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ public class FsTranslog extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements Translog,
     private final AtomicBoolean closed = new AtomicBoolean();
 
     public FsTranslog(ShardId shardId, IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService,
-                      BigArrays bigArrays, ShardPath shardPath, ThreadPool threadPool) throws IOException {
-        this(shardId, indexSettingsService.getSettings(), indexSettingsService, bigArrays, shardPath.resolveTranslog(), threadPool);
+                      BigArrays bigArrays, Path location, ThreadPool threadPool) throws IOException {
+        this(shardId, indexSettingsService.getSettings(), indexSettingsService, bigArrays, location, threadPool);
     }
 
     public FsTranslog(ShardId shardId, @IndexSettings Settings indexSettings,
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
index 6d1796cb4db..426f4cf89d8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ public class IndexingMemoryController extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Indexin
                     }
                     final Translog translog;
                     try {
-                        translog = indexShard.translog();
+                        translog = indexShard.engine().getTranslog();
                     } catch (EngineClosedException e) {
                         // not ready yet to be checked for in activity
                         continue;
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoverySourceHandler.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoverySourceHandler.java
index c29cd2312a0..296f377bf84 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoverySourceHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoverySourceHandler.java
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.AbstractRunnable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ConcurrentCollections;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexService;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.deletionpolicy.SnapshotIndexCommit;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.Engine;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.RecoveryEngineException;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.DocumentMapper;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.IllegalIndexShardStateException;
@@ -131,7 +132,9 @@ public class RecoverySourceHandler {
 
     /** performs the recovery from the local engine to the target */
     public RecoveryResponse recoverToTarget() {
-        try (Translog.View translogView = shard.translog().newView()) {
+        final Engine engine = shard.engine();
+        assert engine.getTranslog() != null : "translog must not be null";
+        try (Translog.View translogView = engine.getTranslog().newView()) {
             logger.trace("captured translog id [{}] for recovery", translogView.minTranslogId());
             final SnapshotIndexCommit phase1Snapshot;
             try {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
index 63228eaa733..ec0cfe6b8f3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ public class RecoveryTarget extends AbstractComponent {
             try (RecoveriesCollection.StatusRef statusRef = onGoingRecoveries.getStatusSafe(request.recoveryId(), request.shardId())) {
                 final RecoveryStatus recoveryStatus = statusRef.status();
                 recoveryStatus.state().getTranslog().totalOperations(request.totalTranslogOps());
-                recoveryStatus.indexShard().skipTranslogRecovery();
+                recoveryStatus.indexShard().skipTranslogRecovery(false);
             }
             channel.sendResponse(TransportResponse.Empty.INSTANCE);
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
index 6b5116c8498..0615317c325 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         Lucene.cleanLuceneIndex(store.directory());
         Lucene.cleanLuceneIndex(storeReplica.directory());
         primaryTranslogDir = createTempDir("translog-primary");
-        engine = createEngine(store, createTranslog());
+        engine = createEngine(store, primaryTranslogDir);
         LiveIndexWriterConfig currentIndexWriterConfig = engine.getCurrentIndexWriterConfig();
 
         assertEquals(engine.config().getCodec().getName(), codecService.codec(codecName).getName());
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
             engine.config().setEnableGcDeletes(false);
         }
         replicaTranslogDir = createTempDir("translog-replica");
-        replicaEngine = createEngine(storeReplica, createTranslogReplica());
+        replicaEngine = createEngine(storeReplica, replicaTranslogDir);
         currentIndexWriterConfig = replicaEngine.getCurrentIndexWriterConfig();
 
         assertEquals(replicaEngine.config().getCodec().getName(), codecService.codec(codecName).getName());
@@ -244,16 +244,16 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         return new ConcurrentMergeSchedulerProvider(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS, threadPool, indexSettingsService);
     }
 
-    protected InternalEngine createEngine(Store store, FsTranslog translog) {
+    protected InternalEngine createEngine(Store store, Path translogPath) {
         IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService = new IndexSettingsService(shardId.index(), ImmutableSettings.builder().put(defaultSettings).put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT).build());
-        return createEngine(indexSettingsService, store, translog, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService));
+        return createEngine(indexSettingsService, store, translogPath, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService));
     }
 
-    protected InternalEngine createEngine(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, FsTranslog translog, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
-        return new InternalEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, mergeSchedulerProvider), translog, false);
+    protected InternalEngine createEngine(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, Path translogPath, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
+        return new InternalEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, translogPath, mergeSchedulerProvider), false);
     }
 
-    public EngineConfig config(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
+    public EngineConfig config(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, Path translogPath, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
         IndexWriterConfig iwc = newIndexWriterConfig();
         EngineConfig config = new EngineConfig(shardId, threadPool, new ShardIndexingService(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS, new ShardSlowLogIndexingService(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS, indexSettingsService)), indexSettingsService
                 , null, store, createSnapshotDeletionPolicy(), createMergePolicy(), mergeSchedulerProvider,
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
             public void onFailedEngine(ShardId shardId, String reason, @Nullable Throwable t) {
                 // we don't need to notify anybody in this test
             }
-        }, new TranslogHandler(shardId.index().getName()), IndexSearcher.getDefaultQueryCache(), IndexSearcher.getDefaultQueryCachingPolicy());
+        }, new TranslogHandler(shardId.index().getName()), IndexSearcher.getDefaultQueryCache(), IndexSearcher.getDefaultQueryCachingPolicy(), BigArrays.NON_RECYCLING_INSTANCE, translogPath);
 
         return config;
     }
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         ConcurrentMergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider = new ConcurrentMergeSchedulerProvider(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS, threadPool, new IndexSettingsService(shardId.index(), EMPTY_SETTINGS));
         IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService = new IndexSettingsService(shardId.index(), ImmutableSettings.builder().put(defaultSettings).put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT).build());
         try (Store store = createStore();
-             Engine engine = createEngine(indexSettingsService, store, createTranslog(createTempDir()), mergeSchedulerProvider)) {
+             Engine engine = createEngine(indexSettingsService, store, createTempDir(), mergeSchedulerProvider)) {
 
             ParsedDocument doc = testParsedDocument("1", "1", "test", null, -1, -1, testDocument(), B_1, null);
             Engine.Index index = new Engine.Index(null, newUid("1"), doc);
@@ -878,7 +878,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         int numIters = randomIntBetween(2, 10);
         for (int j = 0; j < numIters; j++) {
             try (Store store = createStore()) {
-                final InternalEngine engine = createEngine(store, createTranslog(createTempDir()));
+                final InternalEngine engine = createEngine(store, createTempDir());
                 final CountDownLatch startGun = new CountDownLatch(1);
                 final CountDownLatch indexed = new CountDownLatch(1);
 
@@ -1286,8 +1286,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
     public void testEnableGcDeletes() throws Exception {
         IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService = new IndexSettingsService(shardId.index(), ImmutableSettings.builder().put(defaultSettings).put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT).build());
         try (Store store = createStore();
-             Engine engine = new InternalEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService)),
-                     createTranslog(createTempDir()), false)) {
+             Engine engine = new InternalEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, createTempDir(), createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService)), false)) {
             engine.config().setEnableGcDeletes(false);
 
             // Add document
@@ -1371,12 +1370,13 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
             wrapper.setAllowRandomFileNotFoundException(randomBoolean());
             wrapper.setRandomIOExceptionRate(randomDouble());
             wrapper.setRandomIOExceptionRateOnOpen(randomDouble());
-            try (Store store = createStore(wrapper); FsTranslog translog = createTranslog(createTempDir("testFailStart"))) {
+            final Path translogPath = createTempDir("testFailStart");
+            try (Store store = createStore(wrapper)) {
                 int refCount = store.refCount();
                 assertTrue("refCount: " + store.refCount(), store.refCount() > 0);
                 InternalEngine holder;
                 try {
-                    holder = createEngine(store, translog);
+                    holder = createEngine(store, translogPath);
                 } catch (EngineCreationFailureException ex) {
                     assertEquals(store.refCount(), refCount);
                     continue;
@@ -1387,7 +1387,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
                     try {
                         assertEquals(store.refCount(), refCount + 1);
                         holder.close();
-                        holder = createEngine(store, translog);
+                        holder = createEngine(store, translogPath);
                         assertEquals(store.refCount(), refCount + 1);
                     } catch (EngineCreationFailureException ex) {
                         // all is fine
@@ -1508,8 +1508,8 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
                 .put(EngineConfig.INDEX_BUFFER_SIZE_SETTING, "1kb").build();
         IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService = new IndexSettingsService(shardId.index(), indexSettings);
         try (Store store = createStore();
-             Engine engine = new InternalEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService)),
-                     createTranslog(createTempDir()), false)) {
+             Engine engine = new InternalEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, createTempDir(), createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService)),
+                     false)) {
             for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
                 String id = Integer.toString(i);
                 ParsedDocument doc = testParsedDocument(id, id, "test", null, -1, -1, testDocument(), B_1, null);
@@ -1550,9 +1550,8 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         translog.markCommitted(translog.currentId());
         // we have to re-open the translog because o.w. it will complain about commit information going backwards, which is OK as we did a fake markComitted
         translog.close();
-        translog = createTranslog();
         try {
-            engine = createEngine(store, translog);
+            engine = createEngine(store, primaryTranslogDir);
             fail("engine shouldn't start without a valid translog id");
         } catch (EngineCreationFailureException ex) {
             // expected
@@ -1560,7 +1559,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         // now it should be OK.
         IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService = new IndexSettingsService(shardId.index(), ImmutableSettings.builder().put(defaultSettings)
                 .put(EngineConfig.INDEX_IGNORE_UNKNOWN_TRANSLOG, true).build());
-        engine = createEngine(indexSettingsService, store, translog, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService));
+        engine = createEngine(indexSettingsService, store, primaryTranslogDir, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService));
     }
 
     @TestLogging("index.translog:TRACE")
@@ -1593,13 +1592,11 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
                 directory.setRandomIOExceptionRate(randomDouble());
                 directory.setFailOnOpenInput(randomBoolean());
                 directory.setAllowRandomFileNotFoundException(randomBoolean());
-                final FsTranslog translog = createTranslog();
                 try {
-                    engine = createEngine(store, translog);
+                    engine = createEngine(store, primaryTranslogDir);
                     started = true;
                     break;
                 } catch (EngineCreationFailureException ex) {
-                    translog.close();
                 }
             }
 
@@ -1608,11 +1605,11 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
             directory.setFailOnOpenInput(false);
             directory.setAllowRandomFileNotFoundException(false);
             if (started == false) {
-                engine = createEngine(store, createTranslog());
+                engine = createEngine(store, primaryTranslogDir);
             }
         } else {
             // no mock directory, no fun.
-            engine = createEngine(store, createTranslog());
+            engine = createEngine(store, primaryTranslogDir);
         }
         try (Engine.Searcher searcher = engine.acquireSearcher("test")) {
             TopDocs topDocs = searcher.searcher().search(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), randomIntBetween(numDocs, numDocs + 10));
@@ -1643,7 +1640,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
             directory.setPreventDoubleWrite(false);
         }
         engine.close();
-        engine = new InternalEngine(engine.config(), createTranslog(), true);
+        engine = new InternalEngine(engine.config(), true);
 
         try (Engine.Searcher searcher = engine.acquireSearcher("test")) {
             TopDocs topDocs = searcher.searcher().search(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), randomIntBetween(numDocs, numDocs + 10));
@@ -1684,7 +1681,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         parser.mappingUpdate = dynamicUpdate();
 
         engine.close();
-        engine = new InternalEngine(engine.config(), createTranslog(), false); // we need to reuse the engine config unless the parser.mappingModified won't work
+        engine = new InternalEngine(engine.config(), false); // we need to reuse the engine config unless the parser.mappingModified won't work
 
         try (Engine.Searcher searcher = engine.acquireSearcher("test")) {
             TopDocs topDocs = searcher.searcher().search(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), randomIntBetween(numDocs, numDocs + 10));
@@ -1700,7 +1697,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         }
 
         engine.close();
-        engine = createEngine(store, createTranslog());
+        engine = createEngine(store, primaryTranslogDir);
         try (Engine.Searcher searcher = engine.acquireSearcher("test")) {
             TopDocs topDocs = searcher.searcher().search(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), randomIntBetween(numDocs, numDocs + 10));
             assertThat(topDocs.totalHits, equalTo(numDocs));
@@ -1730,7 +1727,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         }
 
         engine.close();
-        engine = createEngine(store, createTranslog());
+        engine = createEngine(store, primaryTranslogDir);
         try (Engine.Searcher searcher = engine.acquireSearcher("test")) {
             TopDocs topDocs = searcher.searcher().search(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), numDocs + 1);
             assertThat(topDocs.totalHits, equalTo(numDocs + 1));
@@ -1742,7 +1739,7 @@ public class InternalEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
             engine.refresh("test");
         } else {
             engine.close();
-            engine = createEngine(store, createTranslog());
+            engine = createEngine(store, primaryTranslogDir);
         }
         try (Engine.Searcher searcher = engine.acquireSearcher("test")) {
             TopDocs topDocs = searcher.searcher().search(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), numDocs);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/ShadowEngineTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/ShadowEngineTests.java
index f5eb610b695..21a9d851eed 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/ShadowEngineTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/ShadowEngineTests.java
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
     private Store store;
     private Store storeReplica;
 
-    protected FsTranslog translog;
 
     protected Engine primaryEngine;
     protected Engine replicaEngine;
@@ -130,8 +129,7 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         storeReplica = createStore(dirPath);
         Lucene.cleanLuceneIndex(store.directory());
         Lucene.cleanLuceneIndex(storeReplica.directory());
-        translog = createTranslog();
-        primaryEngine = createInternalEngine(store, translog);
+        primaryEngine = createInternalEngine(store, createTempDir("translog-primary"));
         LiveIndexWriterConfig currentIndexWriterConfig = ((InternalEngine)primaryEngine).getCurrentIndexWriterConfig();
 
         assertEquals(primaryEngine.config().getCodec().getName(), codecService.codec(codecName).getName());
@@ -155,7 +153,6 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         replicaEngine.close();
         storeReplica.close();
         primaryEngine.close();
-        translog.close();
         store.close();
         terminate(threadPool);
     }
@@ -198,10 +195,6 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         return new Store(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS, directoryService, new DummyShardLock(shardId));
     }
 
-    protected FsTranslog createTranslog() throws IOException {
-        return new FsTranslog(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS, BigArrays.NON_RECYCLING_INSTANCE, createTempDir("translog-primary"));
-    }
-
     protected IndexDeletionPolicy createIndexDeletionPolicy() {
         return new KeepOnlyLastDeletionPolicy(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS);
     }
@@ -223,20 +216,20 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         return createShadowEngine(indexSettingsService, store, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService));
     }
 
-    protected InternalEngine createInternalEngine(Store store, FsTranslog translog) {
+    protected InternalEngine createInternalEngine(Store store, Path translogPath) {
         IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService = new IndexSettingsService(shardId.index(), ImmutableSettings.builder().put(defaultSettings).put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT).build());
-        return createInternalEngine(indexSettingsService, store, translog, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService));
+        return createInternalEngine(indexSettingsService, store, translogPath, createMergeScheduler(indexSettingsService));
     }
 
     protected ShadowEngine createShadowEngine(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
-        return new ShadowEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, mergeSchedulerProvider));
+        return new ShadowEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, null, mergeSchedulerProvider));
     }
 
-    protected InternalEngine createInternalEngine(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, FsTranslog translog, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
-        return new InternalEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, mergeSchedulerProvider), translog, true);
+    protected InternalEngine createInternalEngine(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, Path translogPath, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
+        return new InternalEngine(config(indexSettingsService, store, translogPath, mergeSchedulerProvider), true);
     }
 
-    public EngineConfig config(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
+    public EngineConfig config(IndexSettingsService indexSettingsService, Store store, Path translogPath, MergeSchedulerProvider mergeSchedulerProvider) {
         IndexWriterConfig iwc = newIndexWriterConfig();
         EngineConfig config = new EngineConfig(shardId, threadPool, new ShardIndexingService(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS, new ShardSlowLogIndexingService(shardId, EMPTY_SETTINGS, indexSettingsService)), indexSettingsService
                 , null, store, createSnapshotDeletionPolicy(), createMergePolicy(), mergeSchedulerProvider,
@@ -244,7 +237,7 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
             @Override
             public void onFailedEngine(ShardId shardId, String reason, @Nullable Throwable t) {
                 // we don't need to notify anybody in this test
-        }}, null, IndexSearcher.getDefaultQueryCache(), IndexSearcher.getDefaultQueryCachingPolicy());
+        }}, null, IndexSearcher.getDefaultQueryCache(), IndexSearcher.getDefaultQueryCachingPolicy(), BigArrays.NON_RECYCLING_INSTANCE, translogPath);
         return config;
     }
 
@@ -918,7 +911,6 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
                         break;
                     }
                 }
-                translog.close();
                 holder.close();
                 assertEquals(store.refCount(), refCount);
             }
@@ -967,8 +959,7 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         // Create an InternalEngine, which creates the index so the shadow
         // replica will handle it correctly
         Store pStore = createStore(srDir);
-        FsTranslog pTranslog = createTranslog();
-        InternalEngine pEngine = createInternalEngine(pStore, pTranslog);
+        InternalEngine pEngine = createInternalEngine(pStore, createTempDir("translog-primary"));
 
         // create a document
         ParseContext.Document document = testDocumentWithTextField();
@@ -980,6 +971,6 @@ public class ShadowEngineTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         t.join();
         assertTrue("ShadowEngine should have been able to be created", succeeded.get());
         // (shadow engine is already shut down in the try-with-resources)
-        IOUtils.close(srStore, pTranslog, pEngine, pStore);
+        IOUtils.close(srStore, pEngine, pStore);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/engine/MockEngineFactory.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/engine/MockEngineFactory.java
index 84baa67d2fb..0adb6380e77 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/engine/MockEngineFactory.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/engine/MockEngineFactory.java
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.fs.FsTranslog;
  */
 public final class MockEngineFactory implements EngineFactory {
     @Override
-    public Engine newReadWriteEngine(EngineConfig config, FsTranslog translog, boolean skipTranslogRecovery) {
-        return new MockInternalEngine(config, translog, skipTranslogRecovery);
+    public Engine newReadWriteEngine(EngineConfig config, boolean skipTranslogRecovery) {
+        return new MockInternalEngine(config, skipTranslogRecovery);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/engine/MockInternalEngine.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/engine/MockInternalEngine.java
index 29b813c4499..7c7bd96a31f 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/engine/MockInternalEngine.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/engine/MockInternalEngine.java
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ final class MockInternalEngine extends InternalEngine {
     private final boolean randomizeFlushOnClose;
 
 
-    MockInternalEngine(EngineConfig config, FsTranslog translog, boolean skipInitialTranslogRecovery) throws EngineException {
-        super(config, translog, skipInitialTranslogRecovery);
+    MockInternalEngine(EngineConfig config, boolean skipInitialTranslogRecovery) throws EngineException {
+        super(config, skipInitialTranslogRecovery);
         randomizeFlushOnClose = IndexMetaData.isOnSharedFilesystem(config.getIndexSettings()) == false;
     }