diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexWithShadowReplicasIT.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexWithShadowReplicasIT.java
index 4eb674397be..a280d4e687c 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexWithShadowReplicasIT.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexWithShadowReplicasIT.java
@@ -586,7 +586,7 @@ public class IndexWithShadowReplicasIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
         logger.info("--> deleting index " + IDX);
         assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareDelete(IDX));
 
-        assertPathHasBeenCleared(dataPath);
+        assertBusyPathHasBeenCleared(dataPath);
         //norelease
         //TODO: uncomment the test below when https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/17695 is resolved.
         //assertIndicesDirsDeleted(nodes);
@@ -647,7 +647,7 @@ public class IndexWithShadowReplicasIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
 
         assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareDelete(IDX));
 
-        assertPathHasBeenCleared(dataPath);
+        assertBusyPathHasBeenCleared(dataPath);
         //norelease
         //TODO: uncomment the test below when https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/17695 is resolved.
         //assertIndicesDirsDeleted(nodes);
@@ -839,7 +839,7 @@ public class IndexWithShadowReplicasIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
         logger.info("--> deleting closed index");
         client().admin().indices().prepareDelete(IDX).get();
 
-        assertPathHasBeenCleared(dataPath);
+        assertBusyPathHasBeenCleared(dataPath);
         assertIndicesDirsDeleted(nodes);
     }
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
index ccc1f0a6b36..52aa07b3eb3 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@ public class IndexShardTests extends ESSingleNodeTestCase {
         SearchResponse response = client().prepareSearch("test").get();
         assertHitCount(response, 1L);
         client().admin().indices().prepareDelete("test").get();
-        assertPathHasBeenCleared(idxPath);
+        assertBusyPathHasBeenCleared(idxPath);
     }
 
     public void testExpectedShardSizeIsPresent() throws InterruptedException {
@@ -639,8 +639,8 @@ public class IndexShardTests extends ESSingleNodeTestCase {
         assertThat("found the hit", resp.getHits().getTotalHits(), equalTo(1L));
 
         assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareDelete(INDEX));
-        assertPathHasBeenCleared(startDir.toAbsolutePath().toString());
-        assertPathHasBeenCleared(endDir.toAbsolutePath().toString());
+        assertBusyPathHasBeenCleared(startDir.toAbsolutePath());
+        assertBusyPathHasBeenCleared(endDir.toAbsolutePath());
     }
 
     public void testShardStats() throws IOException {
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java
index 22216efa15b..972c1a50fbc 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.rules.RuleChain;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
 import java.nio.file.DirectoryStream;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
@@ -672,16 +673,16 @@ public abstract class ESTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Asserts that there are no files in the specified path
+     * Asserts busily that there are no files in the specified path
      */
-    public void assertPathHasBeenCleared(String path) throws Exception {
-        assertPathHasBeenCleared(PathUtils.get(path));
+    public void assertBusyPathHasBeenCleared(Path path) throws Exception {
+        assertBusy(() -> assertPathHasBeenCleared(path));
     }
 
     /**
      * Asserts that there are no files in the specified path
      */
-    public void assertPathHasBeenCleared(Path path) throws Exception {
+    public void assertPathHasBeenCleared(Path path) {
         logger.info("--> checking that [{}] has been cleared", path);
         int count = 0;
         StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
@@ -702,6 +703,8 @@ public abstract class ESTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
                         sb.append("\n");
                     }
                 }
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new UncheckedIOException(e);
             }
         }
         sb.append("]");