diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
index 9da011a2d7e..40865b7dbe8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ public class SearchService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<SearchService> {
     private final ImmutableMap<String, SearchParseElement> elementParsers;
 
     @Inject
-    public SearchService(Settings settings, ClusterService clusterService, IndicesService indicesService, IndicesLifecycle indicesLifecycle, IndicesWarmer indicesWarmer, ThreadPool threadPool,
+    public SearchService(Settings settings, ClusterService clusterService, IndicesService indicesService,IndicesWarmer indicesWarmer, ThreadPool threadPool,
                          ScriptService scriptService, PageCacheRecycler pageCacheRecycler, BigArrays bigArrays, DfsPhase dfsPhase, QueryPhase queryPhase, FetchPhase fetchPhase,
                          IndicesQueryCache indicesQueryCache) {
         super(settings);
@@ -196,6 +196,7 @@ public class SearchService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<SearchService> {
 
     @Override
     protected void doClose() throws ElasticsearchException {
+        doStop();
         FutureUtils.cancel(keepAliveReaper);
     }
 
@@ -774,6 +775,14 @@ public class SearchService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<SearchService> {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the number of active contexts in this
+     * SearchService
+     */
+    public int getActiveContexts() {
+        return this.activeContexts.size();
+    }
+
     static class NormsWarmer extends IndicesWarmer.Listener {
 
         @Override
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchServiceTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchServiceTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2578257af7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchServiceTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.elasticsearch.search;
+
+
+import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ElasticsearchSingleNodeTest;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+
+import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertAcked;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.notNullValue;
+
+public class SearchServiceTests extends ElasticsearchSingleNodeTest {
+
+    @Override
+    protected boolean resetNodeAfterTest() {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    public void testClearOnClose() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
+        createIndex("index");
+        client().prepareIndex("index", "type", "1").setSource("field", "value").setRefresh(true).get();
+        SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("index").setSize(1).setScroll("1m").get();
+        assertThat(searchResponse.getScrollId(), is(notNullValue()));
+        SearchService service = getInstanceFromNode(SearchService.class);
+
+        assertEquals(1, service.getActiveContexts());
+        service.doClose(); // this kills the keep-alive reaper we have to reset the node after this test
+        assertEquals(0, service.getActiveContexts());
+    }
+
+    public void testClearOnStop() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
+        createIndex("index");
+        client().prepareIndex("index", "type", "1").setSource("field", "value").setRefresh(true).get();
+        SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("index").setSize(1).setScroll("1m").get();
+        assertThat(searchResponse.getScrollId(), is(notNullValue()));
+        SearchService service = getInstanceFromNode(SearchService.class);
+
+        assertEquals(1, service.getActiveContexts());
+        service.doStop();
+        assertEquals(0, service.getActiveContexts());
+    }
+
+    public void testClearIndexDelete() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
+        createIndex("index");
+        client().prepareIndex("index", "type", "1").setSource("field", "value").setRefresh(true).get();
+        SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("index").setSize(1).setScroll("1m").get();
+        assertThat(searchResponse.getScrollId(), is(notNullValue()));
+        SearchService service = getInstanceFromNode(SearchService.class);
+
+        assertEquals(1, service.getActiveContexts());
+        assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareDelete("index"));
+        assertEquals(0, service.getActiveContexts());
+    }
+}