diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/action/ShardFollowNodeTask.java b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/action/ShardFollowNodeTask.java
index a4f02707bc40f..3918b815e9150 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/action/ShardFollowNodeTask.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/action/ShardFollowNodeTask.java
@@ -452,11 +452,15 @@ private void handleFailure(Exception e, AtomicInteger retryCounter, Runnable tas
                 scheduler.accept(TimeValue.timeValueMillis(delay), task);
             }
         } else {
-            fatalException = ExceptionsHelper.convertToElastic(e);
-            LOGGER.warn("shard follow task encounter non-retryable error", e);
+            setFatalException(e);
         }
     }
 
+    void setFatalException(Exception e) {
+        fatalException = ExceptionsHelper.convertToElastic(e);
+        LOGGER.warn("shard follow task encounter non-retryable error", e);
+    }
+
     static long computeDelay(int currentRetry, long maxRetryDelayInMillis) {
         // Cap currentRetry to avoid overflow when computing n variable
         int maxCurrentRetry = Math.min(currentRetry, 24);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/action/ShardFollowTasksExecutor.java b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/action/ShardFollowTasksExecutor.java
index 1a1a60678de42..46b3c6e54f576 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/action/ShardFollowTasksExecutor.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/action/ShardFollowTasksExecutor.java
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ protected void nodeOperation(final AllocatedPersistentTask task, final ShardFoll
                     shardFollowNodeTask), e);
                 threadPool.schedule(() -> nodeOperation(task, params, state), params.getMaxRetryDelay(), Ccr.CCR_THREAD_POOL_NAME);
             } else {
-                shardFollowNodeTask.markAsFailed(e);
+                shardFollowNodeTask.setFatalException(e);
             }
         };
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/FollowStatsIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/FollowStatsIT.java
index e6662f3770d24..1f1c6cd5c64e3 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/FollowStatsIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/FollowStatsIT.java
@@ -149,7 +149,6 @@ public void testFollowStatsApiResourceNotFound() throws Exception {
         assertAcked(client().execute(PauseFollowAction.INSTANCE, new PauseFollowAction.Request("follower1")).actionGet());
     }
 
-    @AwaitsFix(bugUrl = "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/38779")
     public void testFollowStatsApiIncludeShardFollowStatsWithRemovedFollowerIndex() throws Exception {
         final String leaderIndexSettings = getIndexSettings(1, 0,
             singletonMap(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), "true"));