diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/seqno/GlobalCheckpointTracker.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/seqno/GlobalCheckpointTracker.java
index c8a77889242..460af438a35 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/seqno/GlobalCheckpointTracker.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/seqno/GlobalCheckpointTracker.java
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ public class GlobalCheckpointTracker extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
      * The global checkpoint tracker can operate in two modes:
      * - primary: this shard is in charge of collecting local checkpoint information from all shard copies and computing the global
      *            checkpoint based on the local checkpoints of all in-sync shard copies.
-     * - replica: this shard receives global checkpoint information from the primary (see {@link #updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica}).
+     * - replica: this shard receives global checkpoint information from the primary (see
+     *   {@link #updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(long, String)}).
      *
      * When a shard is initialized (be it a primary or replica), it initially operates in replica mode. The global checkpoint tracker is
      * then switched to primary mode in the following three scenarios:
@@ -245,8 +246,9 @@ public class GlobalCheckpointTracker extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
      * Updates the global checkpoint on a replica shard after it has been updated by the primary.
      *
      * @param globalCheckpoint the global checkpoint
+     * @param reason           the reason the global checkpoint was updated
      */
-    public synchronized void updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(final long globalCheckpoint) {
+    public synchronized void updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(final long globalCheckpoint, final String reason) {
         assert invariant();
         assert primaryMode == false;
         /*
@@ -255,8 +257,8 @@ public class GlobalCheckpointTracker extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
          * replica shards). In these cases, the local knowledge of the global checkpoint could be higher than sync from the lagging primary.
          */
         if (this.globalCheckpoint <= globalCheckpoint) {
+            logger.trace("updating global checkpoint from [{}] to [{}] due to [{}]", this.globalCheckpoint, globalCheckpoint, reason);
             this.globalCheckpoint = globalCheckpoint;
-            logger.trace("global checkpoint updated from primary to [{}]", globalCheckpoint);
         }
         assert invariant();
     }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/seqno/SequenceNumbersService.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/seqno/SequenceNumbersService.java
index 4cdcd7fbd84..ccc1b553706 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/seqno/SequenceNumbersService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/seqno/SequenceNumbersService.java
@@ -182,9 +182,10 @@ public class SequenceNumbersService extends AbstractIndexShardComponent {
      * Updates the global checkpoint on a replica shard after it has been updated by the primary.
      *
      * @param globalCheckpoint the global checkpoint
+     * @param reason           the reason the global checkpoint was updated
      */
-    public void updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(final long globalCheckpoint) {
-        globalCheckpointTracker.updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint);
+    public void updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(final long globalCheckpoint, final String reason) {
+        globalCheckpointTracker.updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint, reason);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
index 6d4dafa4a77..2efa98f0122 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
@@ -1715,8 +1715,9 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndicesCl
      * Updates the global checkpoint on a replica shard after it has been updated by the primary.
      *
      * @param globalCheckpoint the global checkpoint
+     * @param reason           the reason the global checkpoint was updated
      */
-    public void updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(final long globalCheckpoint) {
+    public void updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(final long globalCheckpoint, final String reason) {
         verifyReplicationTarget();
         final SequenceNumbersService seqNoService = getEngine().seqNoService();
         final long localCheckpoint = seqNoService.getLocalCheckpoint();
@@ -1733,7 +1734,7 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndicesCl
              */
             return;
         }
-        seqNoService.updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint);
+        seqNoService.updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint, reason);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -2099,7 +2100,7 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndicesCl
                             assert operationPrimaryTerm > primaryTerm :
                                 "shard term already update.  op term [" + operationPrimaryTerm + "], shardTerm [" + primaryTerm + "]";
                             primaryTerm = operationPrimaryTerm;
-                            updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint);
+                            updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint, "primary term transition");
                             final long currentGlobalCheckpoint = getGlobalCheckpoint();
                             final long localCheckpoint;
                             if (currentGlobalCheckpoint == SequenceNumbersService.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO) {
@@ -2146,7 +2147,7 @@ public class IndexShard extends AbstractIndexShardComponent implements IndicesCl
                         } else {
                             if (globalCheckpointUpdated == false) {
                                 try {
-                                    updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint);
+                                    updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint, "operation");
                                 } catch (Exception e) {
                                     releasable.close();
                                     onPermitAcquired.onFailure(e);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
index 3b47e84a901..fab7806b968 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTarget.java
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ public class RecoveryTarget extends AbstractRefCounted implements RecoveryTarget
 
     @Override
     public void finalizeRecovery(final long globalCheckpoint) {
-        indexShard().updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint);
+        indexShard().updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpoint, "finalizing recovery");
         final IndexShard indexShard = indexShard();
         indexShard.finalizeRecovery();
     }
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 59d98ae96e9..9a571b3d033 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ public class IndexShardTests extends IndexShardTestCase {
         randomIntBetween(
                 Math.toIntExact(SequenceNumbersService.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO),
                 Math.toIntExact(indexShard.getLocalCheckpoint()));
-        indexShard.updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpointOnReplica);
+        indexShard.updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpointOnReplica, "test");
 
         final int globalCheckpoint =
                 randomIntBetween(
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ public class IndexShardTests extends IndexShardTestCase {
                 randomIntBetween(
                         Math.toIntExact(SequenceNumbersService.UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO),
                         Math.toIntExact(indexShard.getLocalCheckpoint()));
-        indexShard.updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpointOnReplica);
+        indexShard.updateGlobalCheckpointOnReplica(globalCheckpointOnReplica, "test");
 
         final int globalCheckpoint =
                 randomIntBetween(