diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlDailyMaintenanceService.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlDailyMaintenanceService.java
index 481600877b3..6c926d61b22 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlDailyMaintenanceService.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlDailyMaintenanceService.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.xpack.ml;
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Client;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterName;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lease.Releasable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.logging.Loggers;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 import org.joda.time.chrono.ISOChronology;
 
 import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.Random;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 
@@ -28,6 +30,8 @@ public class MlDailyMaintenanceService implements Releasable {
 
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Loggers.getLogger(MlDailyMaintenanceService.class);
 
+    private static final int MAX_TIME_OFFSET_MINUTES = 120;
+
     private final ThreadPool threadPool;
     private final Client client;
 
@@ -45,16 +49,26 @@ public class MlDailyMaintenanceService implements Releasable {
         this.schedulerProvider = Objects.requireNonNull(scheduleProvider);
     }
 
-    public MlDailyMaintenanceService(ThreadPool threadPool, Client client) {
-        this(threadPool, client, createAfterMidnightScheduleProvider());
+    public MlDailyMaintenanceService(ClusterName clusterName, ThreadPool threadPool, Client client) {
+        this(threadPool, client, () -> delayToNextTime(clusterName));
     }
 
-    private static Supplier<TimeValue> createAfterMidnightScheduleProvider() {
-        return () -> {
-            DateTime now = DateTime.now(ISOChronology.getInstance());
-            DateTime next = now.plusDays(1).withTimeAtStartOfDay().plusMinutes(30);
-            return TimeValue.timeValueMillis(next.getMillis() - now.getMillis());
-        };
+    /**
+     * Calculates the delay until the next time the maintenance should be triggered.
+     * The next time is 30 minutes past midnight of the following day plus a random
+     * offset. The random offset is added in order to avoid multiple clusters
+     * running the maintenance tasks at the same time. A cluster with a given name
+     * shall have the same offset throughout its life.
+     *
+     * @param clusterName the cluster name is used to seed the random offset
+     * @return the delay to the next time the maintenance should be triggered
+     */
+    private static TimeValue delayToNextTime(ClusterName clusterName) {
+        Random random = new Random(clusterName.hashCode());
+        int minutesOffset = random.ints(0, MAX_TIME_OFFSET_MINUTES).findFirst().getAsInt();
+        DateTime now = DateTime.now(ISOChronology.getInstance());
+        DateTime next = now.plusDays(1).withTimeAtStartOfDay().plusMinutes(30).plusMinutes(minutesOffset);
+        return TimeValue.timeValueMillis(next.getMillis() - now.getMillis());
     }
 
     public void start() {
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlInitializationService.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlInitializationService.java
index 4006ffe806f..a63a6e77381 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlInitializationService.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlInitializationService.java
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ class MlInitializationService extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateL
     private void installMlMetadata(MetaData metaData) {
         if (metaData.custom(MlMetadata.TYPE) == null) {
             if (installMlMetadataCheck.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
-                threadPool.executor(ThreadPool.Names.GENERIC).execute(() -> {
+                threadPool.executor(ThreadPool.Names.GENERIC).execute(() ->
                     clusterService.submitStateUpdateTask("install-ml-metadata", new ClusterStateUpdateTask() {
                         @Override
                         public ClusterState execute(ClusterState currentState) throws Exception {
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ class MlInitializationService extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateL
                             installMlMetadataCheck.set(false);
                             logger.error("unable to install ml metadata", e);
                         }
-                    });
-                });
+                    })
+                );
             }
         } else {
             installMlMetadataCheck.set(false);
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class MlInitializationService extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateL
 
     private void installDailyMaintenanceService() {
         if (mlDailyMaintenanceService == null) {
-            mlDailyMaintenanceService = new MlDailyMaintenanceService(threadPool, client);
+            mlDailyMaintenanceService = new MlDailyMaintenanceService(clusterService.getClusterName(), threadPool, client);
             mlDailyMaintenanceService.start();
             clusterService.addLifecycleListener(new LifecycleListener() {
                 @Override
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlInitializationServiceTests.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlInitializationServiceTests.java
index 7adfc0cbd84..e4672af0b8a 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlInitializationServiceTests.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlInitializationServiceTests.java
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 public class MlInitializationServiceTests extends ESTestCase {
 
+    private static final ClusterName CLUSTER_NAME = new ClusterName("my_cluster");
+
     private ThreadPool threadPool;
     private ExecutorService executorService;
     private ClusterService clusterService;
@@ -60,6 +62,8 @@ public class MlInitializationServiceTests extends ESTestCase {
 
         ScheduledFuture scheduledFuture = mock(ScheduledFuture.class);
         when(threadPool.schedule(any(), any(), any())).thenReturn(scheduledFuture);
+
+        when(clusterService.getClusterName()).thenReturn(CLUSTER_NAME);
     }
 
     public void testInitialize() throws Exception {
@@ -93,7 +97,6 @@ public class MlInitializationServiceTests extends ESTestCase {
     }
 
     public void testInitialize_alreadyInitialized() throws Exception {
-        ClusterService clusterService = mock(ClusterService.class);
         MlInitializationService initializationService = new MlInitializationService(Settings.EMPTY, threadPool, clusterService, client);
 
         ClusterState cs = ClusterState.builder(new ClusterName("_name"))
@@ -113,7 +116,6 @@ public class MlInitializationServiceTests extends ESTestCase {
     }
 
     public void testInitialize_onlyOnce() throws Exception {
-        ClusterService clusterService = mock(ClusterService.class);
         MlInitializationService initializationService = new MlInitializationService(Settings.EMPTY, threadPool, clusterService, client);
 
         ClusterState cs = ClusterState.builder(new ClusterName("_name"))