diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkIntegrationIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkIntegrationIT.java
index 88a40f8d6db..a1bf1192212 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkIntegrationIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkIntegrationIT.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
 import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionRequestValidationException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.alias.Alias;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.datastream.DeleteDataStreamAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.datastream.GetDataStreamAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.get.GetIndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.get.GetIndexResponse;
@@ -271,6 +272,8 @@ public class BulkIntegrationIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
         assertThat(getIndexResponse.getIndices(), hasItemInArray("logs-barfoo2"));
         assertThat(getIndexResponse.getIndices(), hasItemInArray("logs-barfoo3"));
 
+        DeleteDataStreamAction.Request deleteDSReq = new DeleteDataStreamAction.Request("*");
+        client().execute(DeleteDataStreamAction.INSTANCE, deleteDSReq).actionGet();
         DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.Request deleteTemplateRequest = new DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.Request("*");
         client().execute(DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.INSTANCE, deleteTemplateRequest).actionGet();
     }
diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/DataStreamIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/DataStreamIT.java
index be4a3f5dba4..69721a004a0 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/DataStreamIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/DataStreamIT.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 package org.elasticsearch.indices;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionRequestBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.datastream.CreateDataStreamAction;
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesOptionsIntegrationIT._flush;
 import static org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesOptionsIntegrationIT.clearCache;
@@ -87,6 +89,8 @@ public class DataStreamIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
 
     @After
     public void deleteAllComposableTemplates() {
+        DeleteDataStreamAction.Request deleteDSRequest = new DeleteDataStreamAction.Request("*");
+        client().execute(DeleteDataStreamAction.INSTANCE, deleteDSRequest).actionGet();
         DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.Request deleteTemplateRequest = new DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.Request("*");
         client().execute(DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.INSTANCE, deleteTemplateRequest).actionGet();
     }
@@ -363,6 +367,29 @@ public class DataStreamIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
         verifyResolvability(wildcardExpression, client().admin().indices().prepareGetIndex().addIndices(wildcardExpression), false);
     }
 
+    public void testCannotDeleteComposableTemplateUsedByDataStream() throws Exception {
+        createIndexTemplate("id", "metrics-foobar*", "@timestamp1");
+        String dataStreamName = "metrics-foobar-baz";
+        CreateDataStreamAction.Request createDataStreamRequest = new CreateDataStreamAction.Request(dataStreamName);
+        client().admin().indices().createDataStream(createDataStreamRequest).get();
+        createDataStreamRequest = new CreateDataStreamAction.Request(dataStreamName + "-eggplant");
+        client().admin().indices().createDataStream(createDataStreamRequest).get();
+
+        DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.Request req = new DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.Request("id");
+        Exception e = expectThrows(Exception.class, () -> client().execute(DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.INSTANCE, req).get());
+        Optional<Exception> maybeE = ExceptionsHelper.unwrapCausesAndSuppressed(e, err ->
+                err.getMessage().contains("unable to remove composable templates [id] " +
+                    "as they are in use by a data streams [metrics-foobar-baz, metrics-foobar-baz-eggplant]"));
+        assertTrue(maybeE.isPresent());
+
+        DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.Request req2 = new DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.Request("i*");
+        Exception e2 = expectThrows(Exception.class, () -> client().execute(DeleteComposableIndexTemplateAction.INSTANCE, req2).get());
+        maybeE = ExceptionsHelper.unwrapCausesAndSuppressed(e2, err ->
+            err.getMessage().contains("unable to remove composable templates [id] " +
+                "as they are in use by a data streams [metrics-foobar-baz, metrics-foobar-baz-eggplant]"));
+        assertTrue(maybeE.isPresent());
+    }
+
     private static void verifyResolvability(String dataStream, ActionRequestBuilder requestBuilder, boolean fail) {
         verifyResolvability(dataStream, requestBuilder, fail, 0);
     }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetadataIndexTemplateService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetadataIndexTemplateService.java
index f7ac5a3d598..e9ef244a513 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetadataIndexTemplateService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetadataIndexTemplateService.java
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.TreeSet;
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
@@ -611,6 +612,17 @@ public class MetadataIndexTemplateService {
             }
             throw new IndexTemplateMissingException(name);
         }
+
+        Optional<Set<String>> dataStreamsUsingTemplates = templateNames.stream()
+            .map(templateName -> dataStreamsUsingTemplate(currentState, templateName))
+            .reduce(Sets::union);
+        dataStreamsUsingTemplates.ifPresent(set -> {
+            if (set.size() > 0) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("unable to remove composable templates " + new TreeSet<>(templateNames) +
+                    " as they are in use by a data streams " + new TreeSet<>(set));
+            }
+        });
+
         Metadata.Builder metadata = Metadata.builder(currentState.metadata());
         for (String templateName : templateNames) {
             logger.info("removing index template [{}]", templateName);
@@ -619,6 +631,18 @@ public class MetadataIndexTemplateService {
         return ClusterState.builder(currentState).metadata(metadata).build();
     }
 
+    static Set<String> dataStreamsUsingTemplate(final ClusterState state, final String templateName) {
+        final ComposableIndexTemplate template = state.metadata().templatesV2().get(templateName);
+        if (template == null) {
+            return Collections.emptySet();
+        }
+        final Set<String> dataStreams = state.metadata().dataStreams().keySet();
+        Set<String> matches = new HashSet<>();
+        template.indexPatterns().forEach(indexPattern ->
+            matches.addAll(dataStreams.stream().filter(stream -> Regex.simpleMatch(indexPattern, stream)).collect(Collectors.toList())));
+        return matches;
+    }
+
     public void putTemplate(final PutRequest request, final PutListener listener) {
         Settings.Builder updatedSettingsBuilder = Settings.builder();
         updatedSettingsBuilder.put(request.settings).normalizePrefix(IndexMetadata.INDEX_SETTING_PREFIX);