diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNode.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNode.java
index 4728169fb71..872f6b6a55b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNode.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNode.java
@@ -31,15 +31,18 @@ import static com.google.common.collect.Lists.newArrayList;
  */
 public class RoutingNode implements Iterable<MutableShardRouting> {
 
+    private final String nodeId;
+
     private final DiscoveryNode node;
 
     private final List<MutableShardRouting> shards;
 
-    public RoutingNode(DiscoveryNode node) {
-        this(node, new ArrayList<MutableShardRouting>());
+    public RoutingNode(String nodeId, DiscoveryNode node) {
+        this(nodeId, node, new ArrayList<MutableShardRouting>());
     }
 
-    public RoutingNode(DiscoveryNode node, List<MutableShardRouting> shards) {
+    public RoutingNode(String nodeId, DiscoveryNode node, List<MutableShardRouting> shards) {
+        this.nodeId = nodeId;
         this.node = node;
         this.shards = shards;
     }
@@ -54,7 +57,7 @@ public class RoutingNode implements Iterable<MutableShardRouting> {
     }
 
     public String nodeId() {
-        return this.node.id();
+        return this.nodeId;
     }
 
     public List<MutableShardRouting> shards() {
@@ -140,7 +143,7 @@ public class RoutingNode implements Iterable<MutableShardRouting> {
 
     public String prettyPrint() {
         StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-        sb.append("-----node_id[").append(node.id()).append("]\n");
+        sb.append("-----node_id[").append(nodeId).append("][" + (node == null ? "X" : "V") + "]\n");
         for (MutableShardRouting entry : shards) {
             sb.append("--------").append(entry.shortSummary()).append('\n');
         }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNodes.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNodes.java
index cf147fcc5e5..e01fb698da9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNodes.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/RoutingNodes.java
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ public class RoutingNodes implements Iterable<RoutingNode> {
         }
         for (Map.Entry<String, List<MutableShardRouting>> entry : nodesToShards.entrySet()) {
             String nodeId = entry.getKey();
-            this.nodesToShards.put(nodeId, new RoutingNode(clusterState.nodes().get(nodeId), entry.getValue()));
+            this.nodesToShards.put(nodeId, new RoutingNode(nodeId, clusterState.nodes().get(nodeId), entry.getValue()));
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/AllocationService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/AllocationService.java
index c9301ff90f9..3af0cc04e1a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/AllocationService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/AllocationService.java
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ public class AllocationService extends AbstractComponent {
     private void applyNewNodes(RoutingNodes routingNodes, Iterable<DiscoveryNode> liveNodes) {
         for (DiscoveryNode node : liveNodes) {
             if (!routingNodes.nodesToShards().containsKey(node.id())) {
-                RoutingNode routingNode = new RoutingNode(node);
+                RoutingNode routingNode = new RoutingNode(node.id(), node);
                 routingNodes.nodesToShards().put(node.id(), routingNode);
             }
         }