diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase.java
index 8852b386ffd..6c407c88874 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.transport;
 
-import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.message.ParameterizedMessage;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.util.Supplier;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.Constants;
@@ -32,7 +31,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.cluster.node.DiscoveryNode;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.NamedWriteableRegistry;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.logging.Loggers;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.network.NetworkService;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.ClusterSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
@@ -44,7 +42,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ConcurrentCollections;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.breaker.NoneCircuitBreakerService;
 import org.elasticsearch.node.Node;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
-import org.elasticsearch.test.junit.annotations.TestLogging;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.transport.MockTransportService;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.TestThreadPool;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
@@ -58,8 +55,10 @@ import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
 import java.net.ServerSocket;
 import java.net.Socket;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -836,7 +835,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase extends ESTestCase {
         assertTrue(inFlight.tryAcquire(Integer.MAX_VALUE, 10, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
     }
 
-    @TestLogging("org.elasticsearch.transport:DEBUG")
     public void testTracerLog() throws InterruptedException {
         TransportRequestHandler handler = (request, channel) -> channel.sendResponse(new StringMessageResponse(""));
         TransportRequestHandler handlerWithError = new TransportRequestHandler<StringMessageRequest>() {
@@ -879,7 +877,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase extends ESTestCase {
         serviceB.registerRequestHandler("test", StringMessageRequest::new, ThreadPool.Names.SAME, handler);
         serviceB.registerRequestHandler("testError", StringMessageRequest::new, ThreadPool.Names.SAME, handlerWithError);
 
-        final Tracer tracer = new Tracer();
+        final Tracer tracer = new Tracer(new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList("test", "testError")));
+        // the tracer is invoked concurrently after the actual action is executed. that means a Tracer#requestSent can still be in-flight
+        // from a handshake executed on connect in the setup method. this might confuse this test since it expects exact number of
+        // invocations. To prevent any unrelated events messing with this test we filter on the actions we execute in this test.
         serviceA.addTracer(tracer);
         serviceB.addTracer(tracer);
 
@@ -943,6 +944,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase extends ESTestCase {
     }
 
     private static class Tracer extends MockTransportService.Tracer {
+        private final Set<String> actions;
         public volatile boolean sawRequestSent;
         public volatile boolean sawRequestReceived;
         public volatile boolean sawResponseSent;
@@ -950,42 +952,52 @@ public abstract class AbstractSimpleTransportTestCase extends ESTestCase {
         public volatile boolean sawResponseReceived;
 
         public AtomicReference<CountDownLatch> expectedEvents = new AtomicReference<>();
-        private final Logger logger = Loggers.getLogger(getClass());
-
+        public Tracer(Set<String> actions) {
+            this.actions = actions;
+        }
         @Override
         public void receivedRequest(long requestId, String action) {
             super.receivedRequest(requestId, action);
-            sawRequestReceived = true;
-            expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            if (actions.contains(action)) {
+                sawRequestReceived = true;
+                expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            }
         }
 
         @Override
         public void requestSent(DiscoveryNode node, long requestId, String action, TransportRequestOptions options) {
             super.requestSent(node, requestId, action, options);
-            sawRequestSent = true;
-            expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            if (actions.contains(action)) {
+                sawRequestSent = true;
+                expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            }
         }
 
         @Override
         public void responseSent(long requestId, String action) {
             super.responseSent(requestId, action);
-            logger.debug("#### responseSent for action: {}", action);
-            sawResponseSent = true;
-            expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            if (actions.contains(action)) {
+                sawResponseSent = true;
+                expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            }
         }
 
         @Override
         public void responseSent(long requestId, String action, Throwable t) {
             super.responseSent(requestId, action, t);
-            sawErrorSent = true;
-            expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            if (actions.contains(action)) {
+                sawErrorSent = true;
+                expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            }
         }
 
         @Override
         public void receivedResponse(long requestId, DiscoveryNode sourceNode, String action) {
             super.receivedResponse(requestId, sourceNode, action);
-            sawResponseReceived = true;
-            expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            if (actions.contains(action)) {
+                sawResponseReceived = true;
+                expectedEvents.get().countDown();
+            }
         }
 
         public void reset(int expectedCount) {