diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchAction.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchAction.java
index 9c8d1a879b1..f65597a966b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchAction.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchAction.java
@@ -220,11 +220,6 @@ public class TransportSearchAction extends HandledTransportAction<SearchRequest,
                 Index remoteIndex = shardId.getIndex();
                 Index index = new Index(RemoteClusterAware.buildRemoteIndexName(clusterAlias, remoteIndex.getName()),
                     remoteIndex.getUUID());
-                OriginalIndices originalIndices = remoteIndicesByCluster.get(clusterAlias);
-                assert originalIndices != null;
-                SearchShardIterator shardIterator = new SearchShardIterator(clusterAlias, new ShardId(index, shardId.getId()),
-                    Arrays.asList(clusterSearchShardsGroup.getShards()), originalIndices);
-                remoteShardIterators.add(shardIterator);
                 final AliasFilter aliasFilter;
                 if (indicesAndFilters == null) {
                     aliasFilter = AliasFilter.EMPTY;
@@ -232,8 +227,16 @@ public class TransportSearchAction extends HandledTransportAction<SearchRequest,
                     aliasFilter = indicesAndFilters.get(shardId.getIndexName());
                     assert aliasFilter != null : "alias filter must not be null for index: " + shardId.getIndex();
                 }
+                String[] aliases = aliasFilter.getAliases();
+                String[] finalIndices = aliases.length == 0 ? new String[] {shardId.getIndexName()} : aliases;
                 // here we have to map the filters to the UUID since from now on we use the uuid for the lookup
                 aliasFilterMap.put(remoteIndex.getUUID(), aliasFilter);
+                final OriginalIndices originalIndices = remoteIndicesByCluster.get(clusterAlias);
+                assert originalIndices != null : "original indices are null for clusterAlias: " + clusterAlias;
+                SearchShardIterator shardIterator = new SearchShardIterator(clusterAlias, new ShardId(index, shardId.getId()),
+                    Arrays.asList(clusterSearchShardsGroup.getShards()), new OriginalIndices(finalIndices,
+                    originalIndices.indicesOptions()));
+                remoteShardIterators.add(shardIterator);
             }
         }
         return (clusterAlias, nodeId) -> {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/util/ArrayUtils.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/util/ArrayUtils.java
index de23663b3e9..20c12d564da 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/util/ArrayUtils.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/util/ArrayUtils.java
@@ -84,5 +84,4 @@ public class ArrayUtils {
         System.arraycopy(other, 0, target, one.length, other.length);
         return target;
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchActionTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchActionTests.java
index f34f4313fd6..7491eda8fd7 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchActionTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchActionTests.java
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ public class TransportSearchActionTests extends ESTestCase {
         ThreadPool.terminate(threadPool, 10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
     }
 
-
     public void testMergeShardsIterators() throws IOException {
         List<ShardIterator> localShardIterators = new ArrayList<>();
         {
@@ -159,7 +158,8 @@ public class TransportSearchActionTests extends ESTestCase {
                 new DiscoveryNode("node2", buildNewFakeTransportAddress(), Version.CURRENT)
             };
             Map<String, AliasFilter> indicesAndAliases = new HashMap<>();
-            indicesAndAliases.put("foo", new AliasFilter(new TermsQueryBuilder("foo", "bar"), Strings.EMPTY_ARRAY));
+            indicesAndAliases.put("foo", new AliasFilter(new TermsQueryBuilder("foo", "bar"), "some_alias_for_foo",
+                "some_other_foo_alias"));
             indicesAndAliases.put("bar", new AliasFilter(new MatchAllQueryBuilder(), Strings.EMPTY_ARRAY));
             ClusterSearchShardsGroup[] groups = new ClusterSearchShardsGroup[] {
                 new ClusterSearchShardsGroup(new ShardId("foo", "foo_id", 0),
@@ -180,7 +180,9 @@ public class TransportSearchActionTests extends ESTestCase {
                 new ClusterSearchShardsGroup(new ShardId("xyz", "xyz_id", 0),
                     new ShardRouting[] {TestShardRouting.newShardRouting("xyz", 0, "node3", true, ShardRoutingState.STARTED)})
             };
-            searchShardsResponseMap.put("test_cluster_2", new ClusterSearchShardsResponse(groups2, nodes2, null));
+            Map<String, AliasFilter> filter = new HashMap<>();
+            filter.put("xyz", new AliasFilter(null, "some_alias_for_xyz"));
+            searchShardsResponseMap.put("test_cluster_2", new ClusterSearchShardsResponse(groups2, nodes2, filter));
 
             Map<String, OriginalIndices> remoteIndicesByCluster = new HashMap<>();
             remoteIndicesByCluster.put("test_cluster_1",
@@ -193,7 +195,8 @@ public class TransportSearchActionTests extends ESTestCase {
             assertEquals(4, iteratorList.size());
             for (SearchShardIterator iterator : iteratorList) {
                 if (iterator.shardId().getIndexName().endsWith("foo")) {
-                    assertArrayEquals(new String[]{"fo*", "ba*"}, iterator.getOriginalIndices().indices());
+                    assertArrayEquals(new String[]{"some_alias_for_foo", "some_other_foo_alias"},
+                        iterator.getOriginalIndices().indices());
                     assertTrue(iterator.shardId().getId() == 0 || iterator.shardId().getId() == 1);
                     assertEquals("test_cluster_1:foo", iterator.shardId().getIndexName());
                     ShardRouting shardRouting = iterator.nextOrNull();
@@ -204,7 +207,7 @@ public class TransportSearchActionTests extends ESTestCase {
                     assertEquals(shardRouting.getIndexName(), "foo");
                     assertNull(iterator.nextOrNull());
                 } else if (iterator.shardId().getIndexName().endsWith("bar")) {
-                    assertArrayEquals(new String[]{"fo*", "ba*"}, iterator.getOriginalIndices().indices());
+                    assertArrayEquals(new String[]{"bar"}, iterator.getOriginalIndices().indices());
                     assertEquals(0, iterator.shardId().getId());
                     assertEquals("test_cluster_1:bar", iterator.shardId().getIndexName());
                     ShardRouting shardRouting = iterator.nextOrNull();
@@ -215,7 +218,7 @@ public class TransportSearchActionTests extends ESTestCase {
                     assertEquals(shardRouting.getIndexName(), "bar");
                     assertNull(iterator.nextOrNull());
                 } else if (iterator.shardId().getIndexName().endsWith("xyz")) {
-                    assertArrayEquals(new String[]{"x*"}, iterator.getOriginalIndices().indices());
+                    assertArrayEquals(new String[]{"some_alias_for_xyz"}, iterator.getOriginalIndices().indices());
                     assertEquals(0, iterator.shardId().getId());
                     assertEquals("test_cluster_2:xyz", iterator.shardId().getIndexName());
                     ShardRouting shardRouting = iterator.nextOrNull();