diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
index 2bf6946bc32d7..f54020802b5b8 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryController.java
@@ -38,12 +38,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.monitor.jvm.JvmInfo;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.EnumSet;
-import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.Iterator;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
 
 /**
@@ -258,7 +253,7 @@ private int updateShardStatuses(EnumSet<ShardStatusChangeType> changes, List<Ind
                     }
 
                     // consider shard inactive if it has same translogFileGeneration and no operations for a long time
-                    if (status.translogId == translog.currentFileGeneration() && translog.totalOperations() == 0) {
+                    if (status.translogId == translog.currentFileGeneration() && translog.totalOperations() == status.translogNumberOfOperations) {
                         if (status.timeMS == -1) {
                             // first time we noticed the shard become idle
                             status.timeMS = timeMS;
@@ -282,6 +277,7 @@ private int updateShardStatuses(EnumSet<ShardStatusChangeType> changes, List<Ind
                         status.timeMS = -1;
                     }
                     status.translogId = translog.currentFileGeneration();
+                    status.translogNumberOfOperations = translog.totalOperations();
 
                     if (status.activeIndexing) {
                         activeShards++;
@@ -376,6 +372,7 @@ private static enum ShardStatusChangeType {
 
     private static class ShardIndexingStatus {
         long translogId = -1;
+        long translogNumberOfOperations = -1;
         boolean activeIndexing = true;
         long timeMS = -1; // contains the first time we saw this shard with no operations done on it
     }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryControllerIT.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryControllerIT.java
index 36ad646beaae9..6c0f041b2b8d5 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryControllerIT.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/memory/IndexingMemoryControllerIT.java
@@ -24,13 +24,14 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.EsExecutors;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.EngineConfig;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.SegmentsStats;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.IndexShard;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesService;
 import org.elasticsearch.node.internal.InternalSettingsPreparer;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+
 
 @ESIntegTestCase.ClusterScope(scope = ESIntegTestCase.Scope.TEST, numDataNodes = 0)
 public class IndexingMemoryControllerIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ public void testIndexBufferSizeUpdateAfterCreationRemoval() throws InterruptedEx
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void testIndexBufferSizeUpdateInactiveShard() throws InterruptedException {
+    public void testIndexBufferSizeUpdateInactiveShard() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {
 
         createNode(Settings.builder().put(IndexingMemoryController.SHARD_INACTIVE_TIME_SETTING, "100ms").build());
 
@@ -86,6 +87,12 @@ public void testIndexBufferSizeUpdateInactiveShard() throws InterruptedException
         ensureGreen();
 
         final IndexShard shard1 = internalCluster().getInstance(IndicesService.class).indexService("test1").shard(0);
+
+        if (randomBoolean()) {
+            logger.info("--> indexing some pending operations");
+            indexRandom(false, client().prepareIndex("test1", "type", "0").setSource("f", "0"));
+        }
+
         boolean success = awaitBusy(() -> shard1.engine().config().getIndexingBufferSize().bytes() == EngineConfig.INACTIVE_SHARD_INDEXING_BUFFER.bytes());
         if (!success) {
             fail("failed to update shard indexing buffer size due to inactive state. expected [" + EngineConfig.INACTIVE_SHARD_INDEXING_BUFFER + "] got [" +
@@ -97,12 +104,15 @@ public void testIndexBufferSizeUpdateInactiveShard() throws InterruptedException
 
         success = awaitBusy(() -> shard1.engine().config().getIndexingBufferSize().bytes() > EngineConfig.INACTIVE_SHARD_INDEXING_BUFFER.bytes());
         if (!success) {
-            fail("failed to update shard indexing buffer size due to inactive state. expected something larger then [" + EngineConfig.INACTIVE_SHARD_INDEXING_BUFFER + "] got [" +
+            fail("failed to update shard indexing buffer size due to active state. expected something larger then [" + EngineConfig.INACTIVE_SHARD_INDEXING_BUFFER + "] got [" +
                             shard1.engine().config().getIndexingBufferSize().bytes() + "]"
             );
         }
 
-        flush(); // clean translogs
+        if (randomBoolean()) {
+            logger.info("--> flushing translogs");
+            flush(); // clean translogs
+        }
 
         success = awaitBusy(() -> shard1.engine().config().getIndexingBufferSize().bytes() == EngineConfig.INACTIVE_SHARD_INDEXING_BUFFER.bytes());
         if (!success) {