diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/AutoExpandReplicas.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/AutoExpandReplicas.java
index d9b288bb897..d73ac3a0c5e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/AutoExpandReplicas.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/AutoExpandReplicas.java
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ final class AutoExpandReplicas {
     // the value we recognize in the "max" position to mean all the nodes
     private static final String ALL_NODES_VALUE = "all";
     public static final Setting<AutoExpandReplicas> SETTING = new Setting<>(IndexMetaData.SETTING_AUTO_EXPAND_REPLICAS, "false", (value) -> {
-        final int min;
-        final int max;
+        // TODO change the following back to be final, https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/16097
+        int min;
+        int max;
         if (Booleans.parseBoolean(value, true) == false) {
             return new AutoExpandReplicas(0, 0, false);
         }