diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/ClusterModule.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/ClusterModule.java
index fd07652d11e..f943adc99f1 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/ClusterModule.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/ClusterModule.java
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ public class ClusterModule extends AbstractModule {
         registerIndexDynamicSetting(SearchSlowLog.INDEX_SEARCH_SLOWLOG_THRESHOLD_FETCH_TRACE, Validator.TIME);
         registerIndexDynamicSetting(SearchSlowLog.INDEX_SEARCH_SLOWLOG_REFORMAT, Validator.EMPTY);
         registerIndexDynamicSetting(SearchSlowLog.INDEX_SEARCH_SLOWLOG_LEVEL, Validator.EMPTY);
-        registerIndexDynamicSetting(ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE, Validator.INTEGER);
         registerIndexDynamicSetting(MergePolicyConfig.INDEX_MERGE_POLICY_EXPUNGE_DELETES_ALLOWED, Validator.DOUBLE);
         registerIndexDynamicSetting(MergePolicyConfig.INDEX_MERGE_POLICY_FLOOR_SEGMENT, Validator.BYTES_SIZE);
         registerIndexDynamicSetting(MergePolicyConfig.INDEX_MERGE_POLICY_MAX_MERGE_AT_ONCE, Validator.INTEGER_GTE_2);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/decider/ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/decider/ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.java
index 9149d04cf60..88217e39169 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/decider/ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/decider/ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.java
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 /**
  * This {@link AllocationDecider} limits the number of shards per node on a per
  * index or node-wide basis. The allocator prevents a single node to hold more
- * than {@value #INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE} per index and
+ * than <tt>index.routing.allocation.total_shards_per_node</tt> per index and
  * <tt>cluster.routing.allocation.total_shards_per_node</tt> globally during the allocation
  * process. The limits of this decider can be changed in real-time via a the
  * index settings API.
  * <p>
- * If {@value #INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE} is reset to a negative value shards
+ * If <tt>index.routing.allocation.total_shards_per_node</tt> is reset to a negative value shards
  * per index are unlimited per node. Shards currently in the
  * {@link ShardRoutingState#RELOCATING relocating} state are ignored by this
  * {@link AllocationDecider} until the shard changed its state to either
@@ -59,12 +59,13 @@ public class ShardsLimitAllocationDecider extends AllocationDecider {
      * Controls the maximum number of shards per index on a single Elasticsearch
      * node. Negative values are interpreted as unlimited.
      */
-    public static final String INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE = "index.routing.allocation.total_shards_per_node";
+    public static final Setting<Integer> INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING = Setting.intSetting("index.routing.allocation.total_shards_per_node", -1, -1, true, Setting.Scope.INDEX);
+
     /**
      * Controls the maximum number of shards per node on a global level.
      * Negative values are interpreted as unlimited.
      */
-    public static final Setting<Integer> CLUSTER_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING = Setting.intSetting("cluster.routing.allocation.total_shards_per_node", -1, true, Setting.Scope.CLUSTER);
+    public static final Setting<Integer> CLUSTER_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING = Setting.intSetting("cluster.routing.allocation.total_shards_per_node", -1,  -1, true, Setting.Scope.CLUSTER);
 
 
     @Inject
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ public class ShardsLimitAllocationDecider extends AllocationDecider {
     @Override
     public Decision canAllocate(ShardRouting shardRouting, RoutingNode node, RoutingAllocation allocation) {
         IndexMetaData indexMd = allocation.routingNodes().metaData().index(shardRouting.index());
-        int indexShardLimit = indexMd.getSettings().getAsInt(INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE, -1);
+        final int indexShardLimit = INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING.get(indexMd.getSettings()); // TODO this sucks as it's not taking the node level setting into account
         // Capture the limit here in case it changes during this method's
         // execution
         final int clusterShardLimit = this.clusterShardLimit;
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ public class ShardsLimitAllocationDecider extends AllocationDecider {
     @Override
     public Decision canRemain(ShardRouting shardRouting, RoutingNode node, RoutingAllocation allocation) {
         IndexMetaData indexMd = allocation.routingNodes().metaData().index(shardRouting.index());
-        int indexShardLimit = indexMd.getSettings().getAsInt(INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE, -1);
+        final int indexShardLimit = INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING.get(indexMd.getSettings()); // TODO this sucks as it's not taking the node level setting into account
         // Capture the limit here in case it changes during this method's
         // execution
         final int clusterShardLimit = this.clusterShardLimit;
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettings.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettings.java
index 15ad13f011f..8a8d8878111 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettings.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettings.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.index;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.MergePolicy;
 import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetaData;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.allocation.decider.ShardsLimitAllocationDecider;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.ParseFieldMatcher;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.logging.ESLogger;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.logging.Loggers;
@@ -119,7 +120,8 @@ public final class IndexSettings {
         IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_DURABILITY_SETTING,
         IndexSettings.INDEX_WARMER_ENABLED_SETTING,
         IndexSettings.INDEX_REFRESH_INTERVAL_SETTING,
-        IndexSettings.MAX_RESULT_WINDOW_SETTING
+        IndexSettings.MAX_RESULT_WINDOW_SETTING,
+        ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING
     )));
 
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/ShardsLimitAllocationTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/ShardsLimitAllocationTests.java
index dd3f3f373ff..ac539c421b0 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/ShardsLimitAllocationTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/routing/allocation/ShardsLimitAllocationTests.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public class ShardsLimitAllocationTests extends ESAllocationTestCase {
                 .put(IndexMetaData.builder("test").settings(settings(Version.CURRENT)
                         .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 4)
                         .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 1)
-                        .put(ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE, 2)))
+                        .put(ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING.getKey(), 2)))
                 .build();
 
         RoutingTable routingTable = RoutingTable.builder()
@@ -212,12 +212,12 @@ public class ShardsLimitAllocationTests extends ESAllocationTestCase {
             assertThat(shardRouting.index(), equalTo("test1"));
         }
 
-        logger.info("update " + ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE + " for test, see that things move");
+        logger.info("update " + ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING.getKey() + " for test, see that things move");
         metaData = MetaData.builder(metaData)
                 .put(IndexMetaData.builder("test").settings(settings(Version.CURRENT)
                         .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 5)
                         .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
-                        .put(ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE, 3)
+                        .put(ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING.getKey(), 3)
                 ))
                 .build();
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/scroll/SearchScrollWithFailingNodesIT.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/scroll/SearchScrollWithFailingNodesIT.java
index 96f2e23bba1..20cf8596c4a 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/scroll/SearchScrollWithFailingNodesIT.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/scroll/SearchScrollWithFailingNodesIT.java
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public class SearchScrollWithFailingNodesIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
         assertAcked(
                 prepareCreate("test")
                         // Enforces that only one shard can only be allocated to a single node
-                        .setSettings(Settings.builder().put(indexSettings()).put(ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE, 1))
+                        .setSettings(Settings.builder().put(indexSettings()).put(ShardsLimitAllocationDecider.INDEX_TOTAL_SHARDS_PER_NODE_SETTING.getKey(), 1))
         );
 
         List<IndexRequestBuilder> writes = new ArrayList<>();