diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/gateway/IndexShardGateway.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/gateway/IndexShardGateway.java
index d18192531c6..49da62e5112 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/gateway/IndexShardGateway.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/gateway/IndexShardGateway.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.Lucene;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.CancellableThreads;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.FutureUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.Engine;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.gateway.IndexShardGateway;
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ public class IndexShardGateway extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements Cl
     private final TimeValue syncInterval;
 
     private volatile ScheduledFuture flushScheduler;
+    private final CancellableThreads cancellableThreads = new CancellableThreads();
 
 
     @Inject
@@ -308,15 +310,20 @@ public class IndexShardGateway extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements Cl
                     logger.debug("failed to send mapping update post recovery to master for [{}]", t, type);
                 }
             });
-
-            try {
-                boolean waited = latch.await(waitForMappingUpdatePostRecovery.millis(), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
-                if (!waited) {
-                    logger.debug("waited for mapping update on master for [{}], yet timed out");
+            cancellableThreads.execute(new CancellableThreads.Interruptable() {
+                @Override
+                public void run() throws InterruptedException {
+                    try {
+                        if (latch.await(waitForMappingUpdatePostRecovery.millis(), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS) == false) {
+                            logger.debug("waited for mapping update on master for [{}], yet timed out", type);
+                        }
+                    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                        logger.debug("interrupted while waiting for mapping update");
+                        throw e;
+                    }
                 }
-            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
-                logger.debug("interrupted while waiting for mapping update");
-            }
+            });
+
         }
         recoveryState.getTranslog().time(System.currentTimeMillis() - recoveryState.getTranslog().startTime());
     }
@@ -324,6 +331,7 @@ public class IndexShardGateway extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements Cl
     @Override
     public void close() {
         FutureUtils.cancel(flushScheduler);
+        cancellableThreads.cancel("closed");
     }
 
     class Sync implements Runnable {