diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/CoordinationStateTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/CoordinationStateTests.java
index 0ce97e3f19f..de661d0690a 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/CoordinationStateTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/CoordinationStateTests.java
@@ -811,6 +811,7 @@ public class CoordinationStateTests extends ESTestCase {
     }
 
     public static class InMemoryPersistedState implements PersistedState {
+        // TODO add support and tests for behaviour with persistence-layer failures
 
         private long currentTerm;
         private ClusterState acceptedState;
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/CoordinatorTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/CoordinatorTests.java
index eec4bf41ecf..5230c7e5294 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/CoordinatorTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/CoordinatorTests.java
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportService;
 import org.hamcrest.Matcher;
 import org.junit.Before;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -522,6 +524,7 @@ public class CoordinatorTests extends ESTestCase {
         final DeterministicTaskQueue deterministicTaskQueue = new DeterministicTaskQueue(
             // TODO does ThreadPool need a node name any more?
             Settings.builder().put(NODE_NAME_SETTING.getKey(), "deterministic-task-queue").build(), random());
+        private boolean disruptStorage;
         private final VotingConfiguration initialConfiguration;
 
         private final Set<String> disconnectedNodes = new HashSet<>();
@@ -566,6 +569,7 @@ public class CoordinatorTests extends ESTestCase {
             logger.info("--> start of safety phase of at least [{}] steps", randomSteps);
 
             deterministicTaskQueue.setExecutionDelayVariabilityMillis(EXTREME_DELAY_VARIABILITY);
+            disruptStorage = true;
             int step = 0;
             long finishTime = -1;
 
@@ -636,7 +640,7 @@ public class CoordinatorTests extends ESTestCase {
                     // - reboot a node
                     // - abdicate leadership
 
-                } catch (CoordinationStateRejectedException ignored) {
+                } catch (CoordinationStateRejectedException | UncheckedIOException ignored) {
                     // This is ok: it just means a message couldn't currently be handled.
                 }
 
@@ -645,6 +649,7 @@ public class CoordinatorTests extends ESTestCase {
 
             disconnectedNodes.clear();
             blackholedNodes.clear();
+            disruptStorage = false;
         }
 
         private void assertConsistentStates() {
@@ -674,6 +679,7 @@ public class CoordinatorTests extends ESTestCase {
         void stabilise(long stabilisationDurationMillis) {
             assertThat("stabilisation requires default delay variability (and proper cleanup of raised variability)",
                 deterministicTaskQueue.getExecutionDelayVariabilityMillis(), lessThanOrEqualTo(DEFAULT_DELAY_VARIABILITY));
+            assertFalse("stabilisation requires stable storage", disruptStorage);
 
             if (clusterNodes.stream().allMatch(n -> n.coordinator.getLastAcceptedState().getLastAcceptedConfiguration().isEmpty())) {
                 assertThat("setting initial configuration may fail with disconnected nodes", disconnectedNodes, empty());
@@ -826,6 +832,37 @@ public class CoordinatorTests extends ESTestCase {
             return getAnyNode();
         }
 
+        class MockPersistedState extends InMemoryPersistedState {
+            MockPersistedState(long term, ClusterState acceptedState) {
+                super(term, acceptedState);
+            }
+
+            private void possiblyFail(String description) {
+                if (disruptStorage && rarely()) {
+                    // TODO revisit this when we've decided how PersistedState should throw exceptions
+                    if (randomBoolean()) {
+                        throw new UncheckedIOException(new IOException("simulated IO exception [" + description + ']'));
+                    } else {
+                        throw new CoordinationStateRejectedException("simulated IO exception [" + description + ']');
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void setCurrentTerm(long currentTerm) {
+                possiblyFail("before writing term of " + currentTerm);
+                super.setCurrentTerm(currentTerm);
+                // TODO possiblyFail() here if that's a failure mode of the storage layer
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void setLastAcceptedState(ClusterState clusterState) {
+                possiblyFail("before writing last-accepted state of term=" + clusterState.term() + ", version=" + clusterState.version());
+                super.setLastAcceptedState(clusterState);
+                // TODO possiblyFail() here if that's a failure mode of the storage layer
+            }
+        }
+
         class ClusterNode extends AbstractComponent {
             private final int nodeIndex;
             private Coordinator coordinator;
@@ -841,7 +878,7 @@ public class CoordinatorTests extends ESTestCase {
                 super(Settings.builder().put(NODE_NAME_SETTING.getKey(), nodeIdFromIndex(nodeIndex)).build());
                 this.nodeIndex = nodeIndex;
                 localNode = createDiscoveryNode();
-                persistedState = new InMemoryPersistedState(0L,
+                persistedState = new MockPersistedState(0L,
                     clusterState(0L, 0L, localNode, VotingConfiguration.EMPTY_CONFIG, VotingConfiguration.EMPTY_CONFIG, 0L));
                 onNode(localNode, this::setUp).run();
             }