diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesService.java
index 636e108468e82..d5b2a6413e9a9 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesService.java
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ private boolean registerRepository(RepositoryMetaData repositoryMetaData) throws
         Repository previous = repositories.get(repositoryMetaData.name());
         if (previous != null) {
             RepositoryMetaData previousMetadata = previous.getMetadata();
-            if (!previousMetadata.type().equals(repositoryMetaData.type()) && previousMetadata.settings().equals(repositoryMetaData.settings())) {
+            if (previousMetadata.equals(repositoryMetaData)) {
                 // Previous version is the same as this one - ignore it
                 return false;
             }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesServiceIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesServiceIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..05c9746aa49ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesServiceIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.elasticsearch.repositories;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.repositories.get.GetRepositoriesResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.client.Client;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.RepositoryMetaData;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.plugins.Plugin;
+import org.elasticsearch.repositories.fs.FsRepository;
+import org.elasticsearch.snapshots.mockstore.MockRepository;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.InternalTestCluster;
+
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+
+import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertAcked;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.sameInstance;
+
+public class RepositoriesServiceIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
+
+    @Override
+    protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> nodePlugins() {
+        return Collections.singletonList(MockRepository.Plugin.class);
+    }
+
+    public void testUpdateRepository() {
+        final InternalTestCluster cluster = internalCluster();
+
+        final String repositoryName = "test-repo";
+
+        final Client client = client();
+        final RepositoriesService repositoriesService =
+            cluster.getDataOrMasterNodeInstances(RepositoriesService.class).iterator().next();
+        final Settings settings = cluster.getDefaultSettings();
+
+        final Settings.Builder repoSettings = Settings.builder().put("location", randomRepoPath());
+
+        assertAcked(client.admin().cluster().preparePutRepository(repositoryName)
+                .setType(FsRepository.TYPE)
+                .setSettings(repoSettings)
+                .get());
+
+        final GetRepositoriesResponse originalGetRepositoriesResponse =
+            client.admin().cluster().prepareGetRepositories(repositoryName).get();
+
+        assertThat(originalGetRepositoriesResponse.repositories(), hasSize(1));
+        RepositoryMetaData originalRepositoryMetaData = originalGetRepositoriesResponse.repositories().get(0);
+
+        assertThat(originalRepositoryMetaData.type(), equalTo(FsRepository.TYPE));
+
+        final Repository originalRepository = repositoriesService.repository(repositoryName);
+        assertThat(originalRepository, instanceOf(FsRepository.class));
+
+        final boolean updated = randomBoolean();
+        final String updatedRepositoryType = updated ? "mock" : FsRepository.TYPE;
+
+        assertAcked(client.admin().cluster().preparePutRepository(repositoryName)
+                .setType(updatedRepositoryType)
+                .setSettings(repoSettings)
+                .get());
+
+        final GetRepositoriesResponse updatedGetRepositoriesResponse =
+            client.admin().cluster().prepareGetRepositories(repositoryName).get();
+
+        assertThat(updatedGetRepositoriesResponse.repositories(), hasSize(1));
+        final RepositoryMetaData updatedRepositoryMetaData = updatedGetRepositoriesResponse.repositories().get(0);
+
+        assertThat(updatedRepositoryMetaData.type(), equalTo(updatedRepositoryType));
+
+        final Repository updatedRepository = repositoriesService.repository(repositoryName);
+        assertThat(updatedRepository, updated ? not(sameInstance(originalRepository)) : sameInstance(originalRepository));
+    }
+}