diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
index 17374db8cbfdc..05502be60464b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
@@ -460,9 +460,17 @@ private SearchContext findContext(long id) throws SearchContextMissingException
 
     SearchContext createAndPutContext(ShardSearchRequest request) throws ElasticSearchException {
         SearchContext context = createContext(request);
-        activeContexts.put(context.id(), context);
-        context.indexShard().searchService().onNewContext(context);
-        return context;
+        boolean success = false;
+        try {
+            activeContexts.put(context.id(), context);
+            context.indexShard().searchService().onNewContext(context);
+            success = true;
+            return context;
+        } finally {
+            if (!success) {
+                freeContext(context);
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     SearchContext createContext(ShardSearchRequest request) throws ElasticSearchException {
@@ -833,10 +841,14 @@ class Reaper implements Runnable {
         public void run() {
             long time = threadPool.estimatedTimeInMillis();
             for (SearchContext context : activeContexts.values()) {
-                if (context.lastAccessTime() == -1) { // its being processed or timeout is disabled
+                // Use the same value for both checks since lastAccessTime can
+                // be modified by another thread between checks!
+                long lastAccessTime = context.lastAccessTime();
+                if (lastAccessTime == -1l) { // its being processed or timeout is disabled
                     continue;
                 }
-                if ((time - context.lastAccessTime() > context.keepAlive())) {
+                if ((time - lastAccessTime > context.keepAlive())) {
+                    logger.debug("freeing search context [{}], time [{}], lastAccessTime [{}], keepAlive [{}]", context.id(), time, lastAccessTime, context.keepAlive());
                     freeContext(context);
                 }
             }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/SearchContext.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/SearchContext.java
index b21fac91609a3..73da685733758 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/SearchContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/SearchContext.java
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ public static SearchContext current() {
 
     private volatile long keepAlive;
 
-    private volatile long lastAccessTime;
+    private volatile long lastAccessTime = -1;
 
     private List<Releasable> clearables = null;