diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/percolate/TransportMultiPercolateAction.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/percolate/TransportMultiPercolateAction.java
index aaadf603e46..cd160dea539 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/percolate/TransportMultiPercolateAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/percolate/TransportMultiPercolateAction.java
@@ -203,7 +203,12 @@ public class TransportMultiPercolateAction extends TransportAction<MultiPercolat
 
                             assert expectedOperationsPerItem[item.slot()].get() >= 1;
                             if (expectedOperationsPerItem[item.slot()].decrementAndGet() == 0) {
-                                reduce(item.slot(), percolateRequests, expectedOperations, reducedResponses, listener, responsesByItemAndShard);
+                                try {
+                                    reduce(item.slot(), percolateRequests, expectedOperations, reducedResponses, listener, responsesByItemAndShard);
+                                } catch (Throwable t) {
+                                    // Don't let any failure bubble up, otherwise expectedOperationsPerItem will be decremented twice
+                                    listener.onFailure(t);
+                                }
                             }
                         }
                     } catch (Throwable e) {
@@ -225,7 +230,7 @@ public class TransportMultiPercolateAction extends TransportAction<MultiPercolat
                             }
 
                             shardResults.set(shardId.id(), new BroadcastShardOperationFailedException(shardId, e));
-                            assert expectedOperationsPerItem[slot].get() >= 1;
+                            assert expectedOperationsPerItem[slot].get() >= 1 : "Caused by: " + e.getMessage();
                             if (expectedOperationsPerItem[slot].decrementAndGet() == 0) {
                                 reduce(slot, percolateRequests, expectedOperations, reducedResponses, listener, responsesByItemAndShard);
                             }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/percolator/RecoveryPercolatorTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/percolator/RecoveryPercolatorTests.java
index 61a3aa70d07..8fd1c98a6f3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/percolator/RecoveryPercolatorTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/percolator/RecoveryPercolatorTests.java
@@ -363,6 +363,7 @@ public class RecoveryPercolatorTests extends AbstractNodesTests {
                             for (MultiPercolateResponse.Item item : response) {
                                 assertThat(item.isFailure(), equalTo(false));
                                 assertNoFailures(item.getResponse());
+                                assertThat(item.getResponse().getSuccessfulShards(), equalTo(2));
                                 assertThat(item.getResponse().getCount(), equalTo((long) numQueries));
                                 assertThat(item.getResponse().getMatches().length, equalTo(numQueries));
                             }
@@ -382,6 +383,7 @@ public class RecoveryPercolatorTests extends AbstractNodesTests {
                                         .execute().actionGet();
                             }
                             assertNoFailures(response);
+                            assertThat(response.getSuccessfulShards(), equalTo(2));
                             assertThat(response.getCount(), equalTo((long) numQueries));
                             assertThat(response.getMatches().length, equalTo(numQueries));
                         }