diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/ShardRecoveryHandler.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/ShardRecoveryHandler.java
index 01c049c7c80..a8c87cef1b7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/ShardRecoveryHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/ShardRecoveryHandler.java
@@ -482,50 +482,9 @@ public final class ShardRecoveryHandler implements Engine.RecoveryHandler {
         final BlockingQueue<DocumentMapper> documentMappersToUpdate = ConcurrentCollections.newBlockingQueue();
         final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
         final AtomicReference<Throwable> mappingCheckException = new AtomicReference<>();
+
         // we use immediate as this is a very light weight check and we don't wait to delay recovery
-        clusterService.submitStateUpdateTask("recovery_mapping_check", Priority.IMMEDIATE, new TimeoutClusterStateUpdateTask() {
-
-            @Override
-            public boolean runOnlyOnMaster() {
-                return false;
-            }
-
-            @Override
-            public TimeValue timeout() {
-                return recoverySettings.internalActionTimeout();
-            }
-
-            @Override
-            public void clusterStateProcessed(String source, ClusterState oldState, ClusterState newState) {
-                latch.countDown();
-            }
-
-            @Override
-            public ClusterState execute(ClusterState currentState) throws Exception {
-                IndexMetaData indexMetaData = clusterService.state().metaData().getIndices().get(indexService.index().getName());
-                ImmutableOpenMap<String, MappingMetaData> metaDataMappings = null;
-                if (indexMetaData != null) {
-                    metaDataMappings = indexMetaData.getMappings();
-                }
-                // default mapping should not be sent back, it can only be updated by put mapping API, and its
-                // a full in place replace, we don't want to override a potential update coming it
-                for (DocumentMapper documentMapper : indexService.mapperService().docMappers(false)) {
-
-                    MappingMetaData mappingMetaData = metaDataMappings == null ? null : metaDataMappings.get(documentMapper.type());
-                    if (mappingMetaData == null || !documentMapper.refreshSource().equals(mappingMetaData.source())) {
-                        // not on master yet in the right form
-                        documentMappersToUpdate.add(documentMapper);
-                    }
-                }
-                return currentState;
-            }
-
-            @Override
-            public void onFailure(String source, Throwable t) {
-                mappingCheckException.set(t);
-                latch.countDown();
-            }
-        });
+        clusterService.submitStateUpdateTask("recovery_mapping_check", Priority.IMMEDIATE, new MappingUpdateTask(clusterService, indexService, recoverySettings, latch, documentMappersToUpdate, mappingCheckException, this.cancellableThreads));
         cancellableThreads.execute(new Interruptable() {
             @Override
             public void run() throws InterruptedException {
@@ -659,4 +618,72 @@ public final class ShardRecoveryHandler implements Engine.RecoveryHandler {
                 ", targetNode=" + request.targetNode() +
                 '}';
     }
+
+    // this is a static class since we are holding an instance to the IndexShard
+    // on ShardRecoveryHandler which can not be GCed if the recovery is canceled
+    // but this task is still stuck in the queue. This can be problematic if the
+    // queue piles up and recoveries fail and can lead to OOM or memory pressure if lots of shards
+    // are created and removed.
+    private static class MappingUpdateTask extends TimeoutClusterStateUpdateTask {
+        private final CountDownLatch latch;
+        private final BlockingQueue<DocumentMapper> documentMappersToUpdate;
+        private final AtomicReference<Throwable> mappingCheckException;
+        private final CancellableThreads cancellableThreads;
+        private ClusterService clusterService;
+        private IndexService indexService;
+        private RecoverySettings recoverySettings;
+
+        public MappingUpdateTask(ClusterService clusterService, IndexService indexService, RecoverySettings recoverySettings, CountDownLatch latch, BlockingQueue<DocumentMapper> documentMappersToUpdate, AtomicReference<Throwable> mappingCheckException, CancellableThreads cancellableThreads) {
+            this.latch = latch;
+            this.documentMappersToUpdate = documentMappersToUpdate;
+            this.mappingCheckException = mappingCheckException;
+            this.clusterService = clusterService;
+            this.indexService = indexService;
+            this.recoverySettings = recoverySettings;
+            this.cancellableThreads = cancellableThreads;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean runOnlyOnMaster() {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public TimeValue timeout() {
+            return recoverySettings.internalActionTimeout();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void clusterStateProcessed(String source, ClusterState oldState, ClusterState newState) {
+            latch.countDown();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ClusterState execute(ClusterState currentState) throws Exception {
+            if (cancellableThreads.isCancelled() == false) { // no need to run this if recovery is canceled
+                IndexMetaData indexMetaData = clusterService.state().metaData().getIndices().get(indexService.index().getName());
+                ImmutableOpenMap<String, MappingMetaData> metaDataMappings = null;
+                if (indexMetaData != null) {
+                    metaDataMappings = indexMetaData.getMappings();
+                }
+                // default mapping should not be sent back, it can only be updated by put mapping API, and its
+                // a full in place replace, we don't want to override a potential update coming into it
+                for (DocumentMapper documentMapper : indexService.mapperService().docMappers(false)) {
+
+                    MappingMetaData mappingMetaData = metaDataMappings == null ? null : metaDataMappings.get(documentMapper.type());
+                    if (mappingMetaData == null || !documentMapper.refreshSource().equals(mappingMetaData.source())) {
+                        // not on master yet in the right form
+                        documentMappersToUpdate.add(documentMapper);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            return currentState;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void onFailure(String source, Throwable t) {
+            mappingCheckException.set(t);
+            latch.countDown();
+        }
+    }
 }