diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/alerts/actions/AlertActionManager.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/alerts/actions/AlertActionManager.java
index 7d003ac54f2..d0e2faa08fa 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/alerts/actions/AlertActionManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/alerts/actions/AlertActionManager.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders;
+import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndexMissingException;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchHit;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ public class AlertActionManager extends AbstractComponent {
             logger.error("Unable to check index availability", e);
             return false;
         }
+
         try {
             loadQueue();
         } catch (Exception e) {
@@ -261,17 +263,31 @@ public class AlertActionManager extends AbstractComponent {
     }
 
     public void addAlertAction(Alert alert, DateTime scheduledFireTime, DateTime fireTime) throws IOException {
+        addAlertAction(alert, scheduledFireTime, fireTime, true);
+    }
+
+    public void addAlertAction(Alert alert, DateTime scheduledFireTime, DateTime fireTime, boolean retry) throws IOException {
         ensureStarted();
         logger.debug("Adding alert action for alert [{}]", alert.alertName());
-
-        AlertActionEntry entry = new AlertActionEntry(alert, scheduledFireTime, fireTime, AlertActionState.SEARCH_NEEDED);
         String alertHistoryIndex = getAlertHistoryIndexNameForTime(scheduledFireTime);
-        IndexResponse response = client.prepareIndex(alertHistoryIndex, ALERT_HISTORY_TYPE, entry.getId())
-                .setSource(XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().value(entry))
-                .setOpType(IndexRequest.OpType.CREATE)
-                .get();
+        AlertActionEntry entry = new AlertActionEntry(alert, scheduledFireTime, fireTime, AlertActionState.SEARCH_NEEDED);
+        try {
+            IndexResponse response = client.prepareIndex(alertHistoryIndex, ALERT_HISTORY_TYPE, entry.getId())
+                    .setSource(XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().value(entry))
+                    .setOpType(IndexRequest.OpType.CREATE)
+                    .get();
+            entry.setVersion(response.getVersion());
+        } catch (IndexMissingException ime) {
+            ///@TODO This really shouldn't be happening
+            if (retry) {
+                logger.error("Unable to dynamically implicitly create alert history index [" + alertHistoryIndex + "] creating explicitly");
+                client.admin().indices().prepareCreate(alertHistoryIndex).get();
+                addAlertAction(alert, scheduledFireTime, fireTime, false);
+            } else {
+                throw new ElasticsearchException("Unable to create alert history index [" + alertHistoryIndex + "]", ime);
+            }
+        }
 
-        entry.setVersion(response.getVersion());
         long currentSize = actionsToBeProcessed.size() + 1;
         actionsToBeProcessed.add(entry);
         long currentLargestQueueSize = largestQueueSize.get();