diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/qa/with-security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/PermissionsIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/qa/with-security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/PermissionsIT.java
index b773f0288a4..057fe4a4881 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/qa/with-security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/PermissionsIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/qa/with-security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/PermissionsIT.java
@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@ package org.elasticsearch.xpack.security;
 
 import org.apache.http.entity.ContentType;
 import org.apache.http.entity.StringEntity;
+import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchStatusException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.repositories.put.PutRepositoryRequest;
-import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.snapshots.delete.DeleteSnapshotRequest;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.snapshots.get.GetSnapshotsRequest;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.snapshots.get.GetSnapshotsResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Node;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Request;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.RequestOptions;
@@ -19,9 +21,11 @@ import org.elasticsearch.client.ResponseException;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.RestClient;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.RestClientBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.core.AcknowledgedResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.slm.DeleteSnapshotLifecyclePolicyRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.slm.ExecuteSnapshotLifecyclePolicyRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.slm.ExecuteSnapshotLifecyclePolicyResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.slm.ExecuteSnapshotLifecycleRetentionRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.slm.GetSnapshotLifecyclePolicyRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.slm.PutSnapshotLifecyclePolicyRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.slm.SnapshotLifecyclePolicy;
@@ -38,6 +42,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.json.JsonXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.support.XContentMapValues;
 import org.elasticsearch.repositories.fs.FsRepository;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestStatus;
+import org.elasticsearch.snapshots.SnapshotState;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.ESRestTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ilm.DeleteAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ilm.LifecycleAction;
@@ -56,8 +61,8 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import static java.util.Collections.singletonMap;
 import static org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory.jsonBuilder;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.security.authc.support.UsernamePasswordToken.basicAuthHeaderValue;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 
 public class PermissionsIT extends ESRestTestCase {
 
@@ -144,6 +149,7 @@ public class PermissionsIT extends ESRestTestCase {
     }
 
     public void testSLMWithPermissions() throws Exception {
+        String repo = "my_repository";
         createIndexAsAdmin("index", Settings.builder().put("index.number_of_replicas", 0).build(), "");
 
         // Set up two roles and users, one for reading SLM, another for managing SLM
@@ -151,7 +157,7 @@ public class PermissionsIT extends ESRestTestCase {
         roleRequest.setJsonEntity("{ \"cluster\": [\"read_slm\"] }");
         assertOK(adminClient().performRequest(roleRequest));
         roleRequest = new Request("PUT", "/_security/role/slm-manage");
-        roleRequest.setJsonEntity("{ \"cluster\": [\"manage_slm\", \"create_snapshot\"]," +
+        roleRequest.setJsonEntity("{ \"cluster\": [\"manage_slm\", \"cluster:admin/repository/*\", \"cluster:admin/snapshot/*\"]," +
             "\"indices\": [{ \"names\": [\".slm-history*\"],\"privileges\": [\"all\"] }] }");
         assertOK(adminClient().performRequest(roleRequest));
 
@@ -181,7 +187,7 @@ public class PermissionsIT extends ESRestTestCase {
 
         Settings.Builder settingsBuilder = Settings.builder().put("location", ".");
         repoRequest.settings(settingsBuilder);
-        repoRequest.name("my_repository");
+        repoRequest.name(repo);
         repoRequest.type(FsRepository.TYPE);
         org.elasticsearch.action.support.master.AcknowledgedResponse response =
             hlAdminClient.snapshot().createRepository(repoRequest, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
@@ -190,7 +196,8 @@ public class PermissionsIT extends ESRestTestCase {
         Map<String, Object> config = new HashMap<>();
         config.put("indices", Collections.singletonList("index"));
         SnapshotLifecyclePolicy policy = new SnapshotLifecyclePolicy(
-            "policy_id", "name", "1 2 3 * * ?", "my_repository", config, SnapshotRetentionConfiguration.EMPTY);
+            "policy_id", "name", "1 2 3 * * ?", repo, config,
+            new SnapshotRetentionConfiguration(TimeValue.ZERO, null, null));
         PutSnapshotLifecyclePolicyRequest request = new PutSnapshotLifecyclePolicyRequest(policy);
 
         expectThrows(ElasticsearchStatusException.class,
@@ -208,6 +215,40 @@ public class PermissionsIT extends ESRestTestCase {
 
         ExecuteSnapshotLifecyclePolicyResponse executeResp =
             adminHLRC.indexLifecycle().executeSnapshotLifecyclePolicy(executeRequest, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
+        final String snapName = executeResp.getSnapshotName();
+
+        assertBusy(() -> {
+            try {
+                logger.info("--> checking for snapshot to be created");
+                GetSnapshotsRequest getSnaps = new GetSnapshotsRequest(repo);
+                getSnaps.snapshots(new String[]{snapName});
+                GetSnapshotsResponse getResp = adminHLRC.snapshot().get(getSnaps, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
+                assertThat(getResp.getSnapshots().get(0).state(), equalTo(SnapshotState.SUCCESS));
+            } catch (ElasticsearchException e) {
+                fail("expected snapshot to exist but it does not: " + e.getDetailedMessage());
+            }
+        });
+
+        ExecuteSnapshotLifecycleRetentionRequest executeRetention = new ExecuteSnapshotLifecycleRetentionRequest();
+        expectThrows(ElasticsearchStatusException.class, () ->
+            readHlrc.indexLifecycle().executeSnapshotLifecycleRetention(executeRetention, RequestOptions.DEFAULT));
+
+        AcknowledgedResponse retentionResp =
+            adminHLRC.indexLifecycle().executeSnapshotLifecycleRetention(executeRetention, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
+        assertTrue(retentionResp.isAcknowledged());
+
+        assertBusy(() -> {
+            try {
+                logger.info("--> checking for snapshot to be deleted");
+                GetSnapshotsRequest getSnaps = new GetSnapshotsRequest(repo);
+                getSnaps.snapshots(new String[]{snapName});
+                GetSnapshotsResponse getResp = adminHLRC.snapshot().get(getSnaps, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
+                assertThat(getResp.getSnapshots().size(), equalTo(0));
+            } catch (ElasticsearchException e) {
+                // great, we want it to not exist
+                assertThat(e.getDetailedMessage(), containsString("snapshot_missing_exception"));
+            }
+        });
 
         DeleteSnapshotLifecyclePolicyRequest deleteRequest = new DeleteSnapshotLifecyclePolicyRequest("policy_id");
         expectThrows(ElasticsearchStatusException.class, () ->
@@ -215,18 +256,6 @@ public class PermissionsIT extends ESRestTestCase {
 
         adminHLRC.indexLifecycle().deleteSnapshotLifecyclePolicy(deleteRequest, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
 
-        // Delete snapshot to clean up and make sure it's not on-going.
-        // This is inside an assertBusy because the snapshot may not
-        // yet exist (in which case it throws an error)
-        assertBusy(() -> {
-            try {
-                DeleteSnapshotRequest delReq = new DeleteSnapshotRequest("my_repository", executeResp.getSnapshotName());
-                hlAdminClient.snapshot().delete(delReq, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);
-            } catch (ElasticsearchStatusException e) {
-                fail("got exception: " + e);
-            }
-        });
-
         hlAdminClient.close();
         readHlrc.close();
         adminHLRC.close();