diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fieldcaps/FieldCapabilitiesIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fieldcaps/FieldCapabilitiesIT.java
index 2dc5c4e7d92e6..6450b964f1f5b 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fieldcaps/FieldCapabilitiesIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fieldcaps/FieldCapabilitiesIT.java
@@ -718,7 +718,7 @@ public void testCancel() throws Exception {
                     "clear resources",
                     TransportFieldCapabilitiesAction.class.getCanonicalName(),
                     Level.TRACE,
-                    "clear index responses on cancellation"
+                    "clear index responses on cancellation submitted"
                 )
             );
             BlockingOnRewriteQueryBuilder.blockOnRewrite();
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/fieldcaps/TransportFieldCapabilitiesAction.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/fieldcaps/TransportFieldCapabilitiesAction.java
index 5da32824b859a..1868cd649f0ee 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/fieldcaps/TransportFieldCapabilitiesAction.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/fieldcaps/TransportFieldCapabilitiesAction.java
@@ -32,8 +32,11 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.collect.Iterators;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.regex.Regex;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.Maps;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.AbstractRunnable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.EsExecutors;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ThrottledTaskRunner;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Nullable;
+import org.elasticsearch.core.Releasable;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Tuple;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.ShardId;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesService;
@@ -145,6 +148,7 @@ private void doExecuteForked(
         if (ccsCheckCompatibility) {
             checkCCSVersionCompatibility(request);
         }
+        final Executor singleThreadedExecutor = buildSingleThreadedExecutor();
         assert task instanceof CancellableTask;
         final CancellableTask fieldCapTask = (CancellableTask) task;
         // retrieve the initial timestamp in case the action is a cross cluster search
@@ -168,9 +172,9 @@ private void doExecuteForked(
 
         checkIndexBlocks(projectState, concreteIndices);
         final FailureCollector indexFailures = new FailureCollector();
-        final Map<String, FieldCapabilitiesIndexResponse> indexResponses = Collections.synchronizedMap(new HashMap<>());
+        final Map<String, FieldCapabilitiesIndexResponse> indexResponses = new HashMap<>();
         // This map is used to share the index response for indices which have the same index mapping hash to reduce the memory usage.
-        final Map<String, FieldCapabilitiesIndexResponse> indexMappingHashToResponses = Collections.synchronizedMap(new HashMap<>());
+        final Map<String, FieldCapabilitiesIndexResponse> indexMappingHashToResponses = new HashMap<>();
         final Runnable releaseResourcesOnCancel = () -> {
             LOGGER.trace("clear index responses on cancellation");
             indexFailures.clear();
@@ -229,7 +233,8 @@ private void doExecuteForked(
         final var finishedOrCancelled = new AtomicBoolean();
         fieldCapTask.addListener(() -> {
             if (finishedOrCancelled.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
-                releaseResourcesOnCancel.run();
+                singleThreadedExecutor.execute(releaseResourcesOnCancel);
+                LOGGER.trace("clear index responses on cancellation submitted");
             }
         });
         try (RefCountingRunnable refs = new RefCountingRunnable(() -> {
@@ -250,7 +255,7 @@ private void doExecuteForked(
                 localIndices,
                 nowInMillis,
                 concreteIndices,
-                searchCoordinationExecutor,
+                singleThreadedExecutor,
                 handleIndexResponse,
                 handleIndexFailure,
                 refs.acquire()::close
@@ -265,7 +270,7 @@ private void doExecuteForked(
                 var remoteClusterClient = transportService.getRemoteClusterService()
                     .getRemoteClusterClient(
                         clusterAlias,
-                        searchCoordinationExecutor,
+                        singleThreadedExecutor,
                         RemoteClusterService.DisconnectedStrategy.RECONNECT_UNLESS_SKIP_UNAVAILABLE
                     );
                 FieldCapabilitiesRequest remoteRequest = prepareRemoteRequest(request, originalIndices, nowInMillis);
@@ -300,7 +305,7 @@ private void doExecuteForked(
                     // This fork is a workaround to ensure that the merging of field-caps always occurs on the search_coordinator.
                     // TODO: remove this workaround after we fixed https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/107439
                     new ForkingOnFailureActionListener<>(
-                        searchCoordinationExecutor,
+                        singleThreadedExecutor,
                         true,
                         ActionListener.releaseAfter(remoteListener, refs.acquire())
                     )
@@ -309,6 +314,29 @@ private void doExecuteForked(
         }
     }
 
+    private Executor buildSingleThreadedExecutor() {
+        final ThrottledTaskRunner throttledTaskRunner = new ThrottledTaskRunner("field_caps", 1, searchCoordinationExecutor);
+        return r -> throttledTaskRunner.enqueueTask(new ActionListener<>() {
+            @Override
+            public void onResponse(Releasable releasable) {
+                try (releasable) {
+                    r.run();
+                }
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onFailure(Exception e) {
+                if (r instanceof AbstractRunnable abstractRunnable) {
+                    abstractRunnable.onFailure(e);
+                } else {
+                    // should be impossible, we should always submit an AbstractRunnable
+                    logger.error("unexpected failure running " + r, e);
+                    assert false : new AssertionError("unexpected failure running " + r, e);
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
     public interface RemoteRequestExecutor {
         void executeRemoteRequest(
             RemoteClusterClient remoteClient,
@@ -546,7 +574,7 @@ private static void innerMerge(
      * list, these failures will be skipped because they have no affect on the final response.
      */
     private static final class FailureCollector {
-        private final Map<String, Exception> failuresByIndex = Collections.synchronizedMap(new HashMap<>());
+        private final Map<String, Exception> failuresByIndex = new HashMap<>();
 
         List<FieldCapabilitiesFailure> build(Set<String> successfulIndices) {
             Map<Tuple<String, String>, FieldCapabilitiesFailure> indexFailures = new HashMap<>();