diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/rounding/TimeZoneRoundingTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/rounding/TimeZoneRoundingTests.java
index 08a4ba11342..61710b726d4 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/rounding/TimeZoneRoundingTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/rounding/TimeZoneRoundingTests.java
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 import org.joda.time.format.ISODateTimeFormat;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
@@ -234,19 +233,18 @@ public class TimeZoneRoundingTests extends ESTestCase {
      * amount of milliseconds.
      */
     public void testSubHourNextRoundingEquallySpaced() {
-        String timeZone = randomFrom(new ArrayList<>(DateTimeZone.getAvailableIDs()));
         DateTimeUnit unit = randomFrom(new DateTimeUnit[] { DateTimeUnit.HOUR_OF_DAY, DateTimeUnit.MINUTES_OF_HOUR,
                 DateTimeUnit.SECOND_OF_MINUTE });
-        DateTimeZone tz = DateTimeZone.forID(timeZone);
-        TimeZoneRounding rounding = new TimeZoneRounding.TimeUnitRounding(unit, tz);
+        DateTimeZone timezone = randomDateTimeZone();
+        TimeZoneRounding rounding = new TimeZoneRounding.TimeUnitRounding(unit, timezone);
         // move the random date to transition for timezones that have offset change due to dst transition
-        long nextTransition = tz.nextTransition(Math.abs(randomLong() % ((long) 10e11)));
+        long nextTransition = timezone.nextTransition(Math.abs(randomLong() % ((long) 10e11)));
         final long millisPerUnit = unit.field().getDurationField().getUnitMillis();
         // start ten units before transition
         long roundedDate = rounding.round(nextTransition - (10 * millisPerUnit));
         while (roundedDate < nextTransition + 10 * millisPerUnit) {
             long delta = rounding.nextRoundingValue(roundedDate) - roundedDate;
-            assertEquals("Difference between rounded values not equally spaced for [" + unit.name() + "], [" + timeZone + "] at "
+            assertEquals("Difference between rounded values not equally spaced for [" + unit.name() + "], [" + timezone + "] at "
                     + new DateTime(roundedDate), millisPerUnit, delta);
             roundedDate = rounding.nextRoundingValue(roundedDate);
         }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/AbstractQueryTestCase.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/AbstractQueryTestCase.java
index 9c47d701f57..22bdc2c7290 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/AbstractQueryTestCase.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/AbstractQueryTestCase.java
@@ -903,12 +903,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractQueryTestCase<QB extends AbstractQueryBuilder<QB>>
         return randomFrom("1", "-1", "75%", "-25%", "2<75%", "2<-25%");
     }
 
-    protected static String randomTimeZone() {
-        return randomFrom(TIMEZONE_IDS);
-    }
-
-    private static final List<String> TIMEZONE_IDS = new ArrayList<>(DateTimeZone.getAvailableIDs());
-
     private static class ClientInvocationHandler implements InvocationHandler {
         AbstractQueryTestCase<?> delegate;
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/QueryStringQueryBuilderTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/QueryStringQueryBuilderTests.java
index 375db0c1eaf..cf16456b2bf 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/QueryStringQueryBuilderTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/QueryStringQueryBuilderTests.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.index.query;
 
-import org.apache.lucene.document.IntPoint;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
 import org.apache.lucene.queryparser.classic.MapperQueryParser;
 import org.apache.lucene.queryparser.classic.QueryParserSettings;
@@ -27,7 +26,6 @@ import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanClause;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BoostQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.DisjunctionMaxQuery;
-import org.apache.lucene.search.LegacyNumericRangeQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.MatchAllDocsQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.MatchNoDocsQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.PhraseQuery;
@@ -148,7 +146,7 @@ public class QueryStringQueryBuilderTests extends AbstractQueryTestCase<QueryStr
             queryStringQueryBuilder.locale(randomLocale(random()));
         }
         if (randomBoolean()) {
-            queryStringQueryBuilder.timeZone(randomTimeZone());
+            queryStringQueryBuilder.timeZone(randomDateTimeZone().getID());
         }
         return queryStringQueryBuilder;
     }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/RangeQueryBuilderTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/RangeQueryBuilderTests.java
index c3db90f1f6d..dd97e7a68eb 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/RangeQueryBuilderTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/RangeQueryBuilderTests.java
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ public class RangeQueryBuilderTests extends AbstractQueryTestCase<RangeQueryBuil
                 // otherwise we could trigger exception.
                 if (createShardContext().getMapperService().fullName(DATE_FIELD_NAME) != null) {
                     if (randomBoolean()) {
-                        query.timeZone(randomTimeZone());
+                        query.timeZone(randomDateTimeZone().getID());
                     }
                     if (randomBoolean()) {
                         query.format("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ");
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/processor/DateProcessorFactoryTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/processor/DateProcessorFactoryTests.java
index 1eecb1397d3..68b5d175509 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/processor/DateProcessorFactoryTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/processor/DateProcessorFactoryTests.java
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public class DateProcessorFactoryTests extends ESTestCase {
         config.put("field", sourceField);
         config.put("formats", Collections.singletonList("dd/MM/yyyyy"));
 
-        DateTimeZone timezone = randomTimezone();
+        DateTimeZone timezone = randomDateTimeZone();
         config.put("timezone", timezone.getID());
         DateProcessor processor = factory.create(config);
         assertThat(processor.getTimezone(), equalTo(timezone));
@@ -141,14 +141,6 @@ public class DateProcessorFactoryTests extends ESTestCase {
         }
     }
 
-    //we generate a timezone out of the available ones in joda, some available in the jdk are not available in joda by default
-    private static DateTimeZone randomTimezone() {
-        List<String> ids = new ArrayList<>(DateTimeZone.getAvailableIDs());
-        Collections.sort(ids);
-        return DateTimeZone.forID(randomFrom(ids));
-    }
-
-
     public void testParseMatchFormats() throws Exception {
         DateProcessor.Factory factory = new DateProcessor.Factory();
         Map<String, Object> config = new HashMap<>();
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateRangeIT.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateRangeIT.java
index a95b3cd4871..36613cfa784 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateRangeIT.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateRangeIT.java
@@ -295,8 +295,7 @@ public class DateRangeIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
     }
 
     public void testSingleValueFieldWithDateMath() throws Exception {
-        String[] ids = DateTimeZone.getAvailableIDs().toArray(new String[DateTimeZone.getAvailableIDs().size()]);
-        DateTimeZone timezone = DateTimeZone.forID(randomFrom(ids));
+        DateTimeZone timezone = randomDateTimeZone();
         int timeZoneOffset = timezone.getOffset(date(2, 15));
         // if time zone is UTC (or equivalent), time zone suffix is "Z", else something like "+03:00", which we get with the "ZZ" format
         String feb15Suffix = timeZoneOffset == 0 ? "Z" : date(2,15, timezone).toString("ZZ");
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateRangeTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateRangeTests.java
index eba3790330b..ee32915fdd7 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateRangeTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateRangeTests.java
@@ -22,12 +22,9 @@ package org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.bucket;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.BaseAggregationTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.bucket.range.RangeAggregator.Range;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.bucket.range.date.DateRangeAggregationBuilder;
-import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 
 public class DateRangeTests extends BaseAggregationTestCase<DateRangeAggregationBuilder> {
 
-    private final static String[] timeZoneIds = DateTimeZone.getAvailableIDs().toArray(new String[DateTimeZone.getAvailableIDs().size()]);
-
     @Override
     protected DateRangeAggregationBuilder createTestAggregatorBuilder() {
         int numRanges = randomIntBetween(1, 10);
@@ -60,7 +57,7 @@ public class DateRangeTests extends BaseAggregationTestCase<DateRangeAggregation
             factory.missing(randomIntBetween(0, 10));
         }
         if (randomBoolean()) {
-            factory.timeZone(DateTimeZone.forID(randomFrom(timeZoneIds)));
+            factory.timeZone(randomDateTimeZone());
         }
         return factory;
     }
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
index 247a340d8c4..918ecf0ce9a 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.test;
 
 import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.RandomizedContext;
-import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.RandomizedTest;
 import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.annotations.TestGroup;
 import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.generators.RandomInts;
 import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.generators.RandomPicks;
@@ -124,7 +123,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.test.store.MockFSIndexStore;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.transport.AssertingLocalTransport;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.transport.MockTransportService;
 import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
-import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.AfterClass;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -1826,23 +1824,6 @@ public abstract class ESIntegTestCase extends ESTestCase {
         return perTestRatio;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Returns a random JODA Time Zone based on Java Time Zones
-     */
-    public static DateTimeZone randomDateTimeZone() {
-        DateTimeZone timeZone;
-
-        // It sounds like some Java Time Zones are unknown by JODA. For example: Asia/Riyadh88
-        // We need to fallback in that case to a known time zone
-        try {
-            timeZone = DateTimeZone.forTimeZone(RandomizedTest.randomTimeZone());
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
-            timeZone = DateTimeZone.forOffsetHours(randomIntBetween(-12, 12));
-        }
-
-        return timeZone;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Returns path to a random directory that can be used to create a temporary file system repo
      */
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 3dbbf25e202..67d93c6887a 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.search.MockSearchService;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.junit.listeners.LoggingListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.junit.listeners.ReproduceInfoPrinter;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
+import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.AfterClass;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -398,6 +399,15 @@ public abstract class ESTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
         return randomTimeValue(1, 1000);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * generate a random DateTimeZone from the ones available in joda library
+     */
+    public static DateTimeZone randomDateTimeZone() {
+        List<String> ids = new ArrayList<>(DateTimeZone.getAvailableIDs());
+        Collections.sort(ids);
+        return DateTimeZone.forID(randomFrom(ids));
+    }
+
     /**
      * helper to randomly perform on <code>consumer</code> with <code>value</code>
      */