diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicy.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicy.java
index b07b68d82b8..add4a443903 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicy.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicy.java
@@ -71,18 +71,12 @@ class CombinedDeletionPolicy extends IndexDeletionPolicy {
     }
 
     private void setLastCommittedTranslogGeneration(List<? extends IndexCommit> commits) throws IOException {
-        // We need to keep translog since the smallest translog generation of un-deleted commits.
-        // However, there are commits that are not deleted just because they are being snapshotted (rather than being kept by the policy).
-        // TODO: We need to distinguish those commits and skip them in calculating the minimum required translog generation.
-        long minRequiredGen = Long.MAX_VALUE;
-        for (IndexCommit indexCommit : commits) {
-            if (indexCommit.isDeleted() == false) {
-                long translogGen = Long.parseLong(indexCommit.getUserData().get(Translog.TRANSLOG_GENERATION_KEY));
-                minRequiredGen = Math.min(translogGen, minRequiredGen);
-            }
-        }
-        assert minRequiredGen != Long.MAX_VALUE : "All commits are deleted";
-        translogDeletionPolicy.setMinTranslogGenerationForRecovery(minRequiredGen);
+        // when opening an existing lucene index, we currently always open the last commit.
+        // we therefore use the translog gen as the one that will be required for recovery
+        final IndexCommit indexCommit = commits.get(commits.size() - 1);
+        assert indexCommit.isDeleted() == false : "last commit is deleted";
+        long minGen = Long.parseLong(indexCommit.getUserData().get(Translog.TRANSLOG_GENERATION_KEY));
+        translogDeletionPolicy.setMinTranslogGenerationForRecovery(minGen);
     }
 
     public SnapshotDeletionPolicy getIndexDeletionPolicy() {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicyTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicyTests.java
index 689ecea9f4a..5d4385cbd38 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicyTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/CombinedDeletionPolicyTests.java
@@ -60,23 +60,20 @@ public class CombinedDeletionPolicyTests extends ESTestCase {
             EngineConfig.OpenMode.OPEN_INDEX_AND_TRANSLOG);
         List<IndexCommit> commitList = new ArrayList<>();
         long count = randomIntBetween(10, 20);
-        long minGen = Long.MAX_VALUE;
+        long lastGen = 0;
         for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
-            long lastGen = randomIntBetween(10, 20000);
-            minGen = Math.min(minGen, lastGen);
+            lastGen += randomIntBetween(10, 20000);
             commitList.add(mockIndexCommitWithTranslogGen(lastGen));
         }
         combinedDeletionPolicy.onInit(commitList);
-        verify(translogDeletionPolicy, times(1)).setMinTranslogGenerationForRecovery(minGen);
+        verify(translogDeletionPolicy, times(1)).setMinTranslogGenerationForRecovery(lastGen);
         commitList.clear();
-        minGen = Long.MAX_VALUE;
         for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
-            long lastGen = randomIntBetween(10, 20000);
-            minGen = Math.min(minGen, lastGen);
+            lastGen += randomIntBetween(10, 20000);
             commitList.add(mockIndexCommitWithTranslogGen(lastGen));
         }
         combinedDeletionPolicy.onCommit(commitList);
-        verify(translogDeletionPolicy, times(1)).setMinTranslogGenerationForRecovery(minGen);
+        verify(translogDeletionPolicy, times(1)).setMinTranslogGenerationForRecovery(lastGen);
     }
 
     IndexCommit mockIndexCommitWithTranslogGen(long gen) throws IOException {