diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/blobstore/BlobStoreRepositoryCleanupIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/blobstore/BlobStoreRepositoryCleanupIT.java
index c5ce2c8716f6b..3a22d933c057a 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/blobstore/BlobStoreRepositoryCleanupIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/blobstore/BlobStoreRepositoryCleanupIT.java
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@
  */
 package org.elasticsearch.repositories.blobstore;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionFuture;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionRunnable;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.repositories.cleanup.CleanupRepositoryResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.snapshots.create.CreateSnapshotResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.PlainActionFuture;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.RepositoryCleanupInProgress;
@@ -17,16 +20,18 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.snapshots.SnapshotState;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertFutureThrows;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 
 @ESIntegTestCase.ClusterScope(scope = ESIntegTestCase.Scope.TEST, numDataNodes = 0)
 public class BlobStoreRepositoryCleanupIT extends AbstractSnapshotIntegTestCase {
 
     public void testMasterFailoverDuringCleanup() throws Exception {
-        startBlockedCleanup("test-repo");
+        final ActionFuture<CleanupRepositoryResponse> cleanupFuture = startBlockedCleanup("test-repo");
 
         final int nodeCount = internalCluster().numDataAndMasterNodes();
         logger.info("-->  stopping master node");
@@ -37,10 +42,12 @@ public void testMasterFailoverDuringCleanup() throws Exception {
         logger.info("-->  wait for cleanup to finish and disappear from cluster state");
         awaitClusterState(state ->
                 state.custom(RepositoryCleanupInProgress.TYPE, RepositoryCleanupInProgress.EMPTY).hasCleanupInProgress() == false);
+
+        cleanupFuture.get();
     }
 
     public void testRepeatCleanupsDontRemove() throws Exception {
-        final String masterNode = startBlockedCleanup("test-repo");
+        final ActionFuture<CleanupRepositoryResponse> cleanupFuture = startBlockedCleanup("test-repo");
 
         logger.info("-->  sending another cleanup");
         assertFutureThrows(client().admin().cluster().prepareCleanupRepository("test-repo").execute(), IllegalStateException.class);
@@ -51,14 +58,19 @@ public void testRepeatCleanupsDontRemove() throws Exception {
         assertTrue(cleanup.hasCleanupInProgress());
 
         logger.info("-->  unblocking master node");
-        unblockNode("test-repo", masterNode);
+        unblockNode("test-repo", internalCluster().getMasterName());
 
         logger.info("-->  wait for cleanup to finish and disappear from cluster state");
         awaitClusterState(state ->
                 state.custom(RepositoryCleanupInProgress.TYPE, RepositoryCleanupInProgress.EMPTY).hasCleanupInProgress() == false);
+
+        final ExecutionException e = expectThrows(ExecutionException.class, cleanupFuture::get);
+        final Throwable ioe = ExceptionsHelper.unwrap(e, IOException.class);
+        assertThat(ioe, instanceOf(IOException.class));
+        assertThat(ioe.getMessage(), is("exception after block"));
     }
 
-    private String startBlockedCleanup(String repoName) throws Exception {
+    private ActionFuture<CleanupRepositoryResponse> startBlockedCleanup(String repoName) throws Exception {
         logger.info("-->  starting two master nodes and one data node");
         internalCluster().startMasterOnlyNodes(2);
         internalCluster().startDataOnlyNodes(1);
@@ -80,13 +92,16 @@ private String startBlockedCleanup(String repoName) throws Exception {
         blockMasterFromFinalizingSnapshotOnIndexFile(repoName);
 
         logger.info("--> starting repository cleanup");
-        client().admin().cluster().prepareCleanupRepository(repoName).execute();
+        // running from a non-master client because shutting down a master while a request to it is pending might result in the future
+        // never completing
+        final ActionFuture<CleanupRepositoryResponse> future =
+                internalCluster().nonMasterClient().admin().cluster().prepareCleanupRepository(repoName).execute();
 
         final String masterNode = internalCluster().getMasterName();
         waitForBlock(masterNode, repoName);
         awaitClusterState(state ->
                 state.custom(RepositoryCleanupInProgress.TYPE, RepositoryCleanupInProgress.EMPTY).hasCleanupInProgress());
-        return masterNode;
+        return future;
     }
 
     public void testCleanupOldIndexN() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException {