diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
index b965cc36dab..3d8411fc40b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/store/IndicesStore.java
@@ -140,10 +140,24 @@ public class IndicesStore extends AbstractComponent implements ClusterStateListe
                             shardCanBeDeleted = false;
                             break;
                         }
-                        String localNodeId = clusterService.localNode().id();
+
+                        // if the allocated or relocation node id doesn't exists in the cluster state, its a stale
+                        // node, make sure we don't do anything with this until the routing table has properly been
+                        // rerouted to reflect the fact that the node does not exists
+                        if (!event.state().nodes().nodeExists(shardRouting.currentNodeId())) {
+                            shardCanBeDeleted = false;
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        if (shardRouting.relocatingNodeId() != null) {
+                            if (!event.state().nodes().nodeExists(shardRouting.relocatingNodeId())) {
+                                shardCanBeDeleted = false;
+                                break;
+                            }
+                        }
+
                         // check if shard is active on the current node or is getting relocated to the our node
+                        String localNodeId = clusterService.localNode().id();
                         if (localNodeId.equals(shardRouting.currentNodeId()) || localNodeId.equals(shardRouting.relocatingNodeId())) {
-                            // shard will be used locally - keep it
                             shardCanBeDeleted = false;
                             break;
                         }