diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/action/shard/ShardStateAction.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/action/shard/ShardStateAction.java
index 71917e2e8c7..9a0d7e55ac3 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/action/shard/ShardStateAction.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/action/shard/ShardStateAction.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.logging.ESLogger;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
+import org.elasticsearch.discovery.Discovery;
 import org.elasticsearch.node.NodeClosedException;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.EmptyTransportResponseHandler;
@@ -121,7 +122,12 @@ public class ShardStateAction extends AbstractComponent {
         }
     }
 
-    private static Set<Class<?>> MASTER_CHANNEL_EXCEPTIONS = new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(NotMasterException.class, NodeDisconnectedException.class));
+    private static Set<Class<?>> MASTER_CHANNEL_EXCEPTIONS =
+        new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(
+            NotMasterException.class,
+            NodeDisconnectedException.class,
+            Discovery.FailedToCommitClusterStateException.class
+        ));
     private static boolean isMasterChannelException(Throwable cause) {
         return MASTER_CHANNEL_EXCEPTIONS.contains(cause.getClass());
     }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/action/shard/ShardStateActionTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/action/shard/ShardStateActionTests.java
index 8aca7849343..ba445c939d3 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/action/shard/ShardStateActionTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/action/shard/ShardStateActionTests.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardRouting;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardsIterator;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.allocation.AllocationService;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.discovery.Discovery;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.cluster.TestClusterService;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.transport.CapturingTransport;
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.action.support.replication.ClusterStateCreationUtils.stateWithStartedPrimary;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
@@ -163,6 +165,7 @@ public class ShardStateActionTests extends ESTestCase {
         AtomicBoolean noMaster = new AtomicBoolean();
         AtomicBoolean retried = new AtomicBoolean();
         AtomicBoolean success = new AtomicBoolean();
+        AtomicReference<Exception> exception = new AtomicReference<>();
 
         setUpMasterRetryVerification(noMaster, retried, latch);
 
@@ -176,6 +179,7 @@ public class ShardStateActionTests extends ESTestCase {
             @Override
             public void onShardFailedFailure(Exception e) {
                 success.set(false);
+                exception.set(e);
                 latch.countDown();
             }
         });
@@ -187,9 +191,11 @@ public class ShardStateActionTests extends ESTestCase {
         List<Exception> possibleExceptions = new ArrayList<>();
         possibleExceptions.add(new NotMasterException("simulated"));
         possibleExceptions.add(new NodeDisconnectedException(clusterService.state().nodes().masterNode(), ShardStateAction.SHARD_FAILED_ACTION_NAME));
+        possibleExceptions.add(new Discovery.FailedToCommitClusterStateException("simulated"));
         transport.handleResponse(capturedRequests[0].requestId, randomFrom(possibleExceptions));
 
         latch.await();
+        assertNull(exception.get());
         assertTrue(success.get());
     }