diff --git a/test/support/page_objects/common.js b/test/support/page_objects/common.js
index 661ff8f865d35..bb32358ee3a9e 100644
--- a/test/support/page_objects/common.js
+++ b/test/support/page_objects/common.js
@@ -15,17 +15,19 @@ import {
 import util from 'util';
 
 import getUrl from '../../utils/get_url';
+
 import {
   config,
   defaultTryTimeout,
   defaultFindTimeout,
   remote,
-  shieldPage
+  shieldPage,
+  esClient
 } from '../index';
 
 import {
   Log,
-  Try,
+  Try
 } from '../utils';
 
 const mkdirpAsync = promisify(mkdirp);
@@ -83,8 +85,21 @@ export default class Common {
     function navigateTo(url) {
       return self.try(function () {
         // since we're using hash URLs, always reload first to force re-render
-        self.debug('navigate to: ' + url);
-        return self.remote.get(url)
+        return esClient.getDefaultIndex()
+        .then(function (defaultIndex) {
+          if (appName === 'discover' || appName === 'visualize' || appName === 'dashboard') {
+            if (!defaultIndex) {
+              // https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/7496
+              // Even though most tests are using esClient to set the default index, sometimes Kibana clobbers
+              // that change.  If we got here, fix it.
+              self.debug(' >>>>>>>> WARNING Navigating to [' + appName + '] with defaultIndex=' + defaultIndex);
+              self.debug(' >>>>>>>> Setting defaultIndex to "logstash-*""');
+              esClient.updateConfigDoc({'dateFormat:tz':'UTC', 'defaultIndex':'logstash-*'});
+            }
+          }
+          self.debug('navigate to: ' + url);
+          return self.remote.get(url);
+        })
         .then(function () {
           return self.sleep(700);
         })
diff --git a/test/support/utils/es_client.js b/test/support/utils/es_client.js
index 10a85f9fcec39..1edbaefe0a27d 100644
--- a/test/support/utils/es_client.js
+++ b/test/support/utils/es_client.js
@@ -68,12 +68,39 @@ export default (function () {
           );
         } else {
           configId = response.hits.hits[0]._id;
-          Log.debug('config._id =' + configId);
+          Log.debug('config._id = ' + configId);
           return configId;
         }
       });
     },
 
+    /*
+    ** Gets defaultIndex from the config doc.
+    */
+    getDefaultIndex: function () {
+      var defaultIndex;
+
+      return this.client.search({
+        index: '.kibana',
+        type: 'config'
+      })
+      .then(function (response) {
+        if (response.errors) {
+          throw new Error(
+            'get config failed\n' +
+              response.items
+              .map(i => i[Object.keys(i)[0]].error)
+              .filter(Boolean)
+              .map(err => '  ' + JSON.stringify(err))
+              .join('\n')
+          );
+        } else {
+          defaultIndex = response.hits.hits[0]._source.defaultIndex;
+          Log.debug('config.defaultIndex = ' + defaultIndex);
+          return defaultIndex;
+        }
+      });
+    },
 
     /**
     * Add fields to the config doc (like setting timezone and defaultIndex)