diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
index c81b9e5c541..813fe7bf7a6 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/ShadowIndexShard.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.EngineConfig;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.merge.MergeStats;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.settings.IndexSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.store.Store;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.TranslogStats;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
@@ -82,4 +83,9 @@ public final class ShadowIndexShard extends IndexShard {
     public boolean allowsPrimaryPromotion() {
         return false;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public TranslogStats translogStats() {
+        return null; // shadow engine has no translog
+    }
 }