diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
index e1f31c5bf0f..9b62ecc1e61 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ public class IndicesStore extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListe
             requests.add(new Tuple<>(currentNode, new ShardActiveRequest(clusterName, indexUUID, shardRouting.shardId())));
             if (shardRouting.relocatingNodeId() != null) {
                 DiscoveryNode relocatingNode = state.nodes().get(shardRouting.relocatingNodeId());
-                assert  relocatingNode != null;
+                assert relocatingNode != null;
                 requests.add(new Tuple<>(relocatingNode, new ShardActiveRequest(clusterName, indexUUID, shardRouting.shardId())));
             }
         }
@@ -296,43 +296,59 @@ public class IndicesStore extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListe
 
         private void allNodesResponded() {
             if (activeCopies.get() != expectedActiveCopies) {
-                logger.trace("not deleting shard [{}], expected {} active copies, but only {} found active copies", shardId, expectedActiveCopies, activeCopies.get());
+                logger.trace("not deleting shard {}, expected {} active copies, but only {} found active copies", shardId, expectedActiveCopies, activeCopies.get());
                 return;
             }
 
             ClusterState latestClusterState = clusterService.state();
             if (clusterState.getVersion() != latestClusterState.getVersion()) {
-                logger.trace("not deleting shard [{}], the latest cluster state version[{}] is not equal to cluster state before shard active api call [{}]", shardId, latestClusterState.getVersion(), clusterState.getVersion());
+                logger.trace("not deleting shard {}, the latest cluster state version[{}] is not equal to cluster state before shard active api call [{}]", shardId, latestClusterState.getVersion(), clusterState.getVersion());
                 return;
             }
 
-            IndexService indexService = indicesService.indexService(shardId.getIndex());
-            if (indexService == null) {
-                // not physical allocation of the index, delete it from the file system if applicable
-                if (nodeEnv.hasNodeFile()) {
-                    File[] shardLocations = nodeEnv.shardLocations(shardId);
-                    if (FileSystemUtils.exists(shardLocations)) {
-                        logger.debug("[{}][{}] deleting shard that is no longer used", shardId.index().name(), shardId.id());
-                        FileSystemUtils.deleteRecursively(shardLocations);
+            clusterService.submitStateUpdateTask("indices_store", new ClusterStateUpdateTask() {
+                @Override
+                public ClusterState execute(ClusterState currentState) throws Exception {
+                    if (clusterState.getVersion() != currentState.getVersion()) {
+                        logger.trace("not deleting shard {}, the update task state version[{}] is not equal to cluster state before shard active api call [{}]", shardId, currentState.getVersion(), clusterState.getVersion());
+                        return currentState;
                     }
-                }
-            } else {
-                if (!indexService.hasShard(shardId.id())) {
-                    if (indexService.store().canDeleteUnallocated(shardId)) {
-                        logger.debug("[{}][{}] deleting shard that is no longer used", shardId.index().name(), shardId.id());
-                        try {
-                            indexService.store().deleteUnallocated(shardId);
-                        } catch (Exception e) {
-                            logger.debug("[{}][{}] failed to delete unallocated shard, ignoring", e, shardId.index().name(), shardId.id());
+
+                    IndexService indexService = indicesService.indexService(shardId.getIndex());
+                    if (indexService == null) {
+                        // not physical allocation of the index, delete it from the file system if applicable
+                        if (nodeEnv.hasNodeFile()) {
+                            File[] shardLocations = nodeEnv.shardLocations(shardId);
+                            if (FileSystemUtils.exists(shardLocations)) {
+                                logger.debug("[{}][{}] deleting shard that is no longer used", shardId);
+                                FileSystemUtils.deleteRecursively(shardLocations);
+                            }
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        if (!indexService.hasShard(shardId.id())) {
+                            if (indexService.store().canDeleteUnallocated(shardId)) {
+                                logger.debug("{} deleting shard that is no longer used", shardId);
+                                try {
+                                    indexService.store().deleteUnallocated(shardId);
+                                } catch (Exception e) {
+                                    logger.debug("{} failed to delete unallocated shard, ignoring", e, shardId);
+                                }
+                            }
+                        } else {
+                            // this state is weird, should we log?
+                            // basically, it means that the shard is not allocated on this node using the routing
+                            // but its still physically exists on an IndexService
+                            // Note, this listener should run after IndicesClusterStateService...
                         }
                     }
-                } else {
-                    // this state is weird, should we log?
-                    // basically, it means that the shard is not allocated on this node using the routing
-                    // but its still physically exists on an IndexService
-                    // Note, this listener should run after IndicesClusterStateService...
+                    return currentState;
                 }
-            }
+
+                @Override
+                public void onFailure(String source, Throwable t) {
+                    logger.error("{} unexpected error during deletion of unallocated shard", t, shardId);
+                }
+            });
         }
 
     }