diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
index fd46ce67bbe6a..279d768fde81a 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ public void clusterChanged(ClusterChangedEvent event) {
         // if this is not a data node, we need to start it ourselves possibly
         if (event.state().nodes().getLocalNode().isDataNode() == false &&
             isWatcherStoppedManually == false && this.state.get() == WatcherState.STOPPED) {
+            this.state.set(WatcherState.STARTING);
             watcherService.start(event.state(), () -> this.state.set(WatcherState.STARTED));
             return;
         }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherService.java b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherService.java
index 49915674fe9e2..599287bb50a76 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherService.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherService.java
@@ -183,9 +183,6 @@ void reload(ClusterState state, String reason) {
         // by checking the cluster state version before and after loading the watches we can potentially just exit without applying the
         // changes
         processedClusterStateVersion.set(state.getVersion());
-        triggerService.pauseExecution();
-        int cancelledTaskCount = executionService.clearExecutionsAndQueue();
-        logger.info("reloading watcher, reason [{}], cancelled [{}] queued tasks", reason, cancelledTaskCount);
 
         executor.execute(wrapWatcherService(() -> reloadInner(state, reason, false),
             e -> logger.error("error reloading watcher", e)));
@@ -221,6 +218,7 @@ private synchronized boolean reloadInner(ClusterState state, String reason, bool
         if (processedClusterStateVersion.get() != state.getVersion()) {
             logger.debug("watch service has not been reloaded for state [{}], another reload for state [{}] in progress",
                 state.getVersion(), processedClusterStateVersion.get());
+            return false;
         }
 
         Collection<Watch> watches = loadWatches(state);
@@ -231,7 +229,13 @@ private synchronized boolean reloadInner(ClusterState state, String reason, bool
 
         // if we had another state coming in the meantime, we will not start the trigger engines with these watches, but wait
         // until the others are loaded
+        // also this is the place where we pause the trigger service execution and clear the current execution service, so that we make sure
+        // that existing executions finish, but no new ones are executed
         if (processedClusterStateVersion.get() == state.getVersion()) {
+            triggerService.pauseExecution();
+            int cancelledTaskCount = executionService.clearExecutionsAndQueue();
+            logger.info("reloading watcher, reason [{}], cancelled [{}] queued tasks", reason, cancelledTaskCount);
+
             executionService.unPause();
             triggerService.start(watches);
             if (triggeredWatches.isEmpty() == false) {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/trigger/schedule/engine/TickerScheduleTriggerEngine.java b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/trigger/schedule/engine/TickerScheduleTriggerEngine.java
index 05aa7cf302817..4c10f794880b9 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/trigger/schedule/engine/TickerScheduleTriggerEngine.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/trigger/schedule/engine/TickerScheduleTriggerEngine.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public synchronized void start(Collection<Watch> jobs) {
                 schedules.put(job.id(), new ActiveSchedule(job.id(), trigger.getSchedule(), startTime));
             }
         }
-        this.schedules.putAll(schedules);
+        this.schedules = schedules;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/trigger/schedule/engine/TickerScheduleEngineTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/trigger/schedule/engine/TickerScheduleEngineTests.java
index 7949998867b48..6680b38ab94b3 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/trigger/schedule/engine/TickerScheduleEngineTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/trigger/schedule/engine/TickerScheduleEngineTests.java
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher.trigger.schedule.Schedules.daily;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher.trigger.schedule.Schedules.interval;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher.trigger.schedule.Schedules.weekly;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.everyItem;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.startsWith;
 import static org.joda.time.DateTimeZone.UTC;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 
@@ -50,8 +52,12 @@ public void init() throws Exception {
     }
 
     private TriggerEngine createEngine() {
-        return new TickerScheduleTriggerEngine(Settings.EMPTY,
-                mock(ScheduleRegistry.class), clock);
+        Settings settings = Settings.EMPTY;
+        // having a low value here speeds up the tests tremendously, we still want to run with the defaults every now and then
+        if (usually()) {
+            settings = Settings.builder().put(TickerScheduleTriggerEngine.TICKER_INTERVAL_SETTING.getKey(), "10ms").build();
+        }
+        return new TickerScheduleTriggerEngine(settings, mock(ScheduleRegistry.class), clock);
     }
 
     private void advanceClockIfNeeded(DateTime newCurrentDateTime) {
@@ -104,6 +110,40 @@ public void accept(Iterable<TriggerEvent> events) {
         assertThat(bits.cardinality(), is(count));
     }
 
+    public void testStartClearsExistingSchedules() throws Exception {
+        final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        List<String> firedWatchIds = new ArrayList<>();
+        engine.register(new Consumer<Iterable<TriggerEvent>>() {
+            @Override
+            public void accept(Iterable<TriggerEvent> events) {
+                for (TriggerEvent event : events) {
+                    firedWatchIds.add(event.jobName());
+                }
+                latch.countDown();
+            }
+        });
+
+        int count = randomIntBetween(2, 5);
+        List<Watch> watches = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+            watches.add(createWatch(String.valueOf(i), interval("1s")));
+        }
+        engine.start(watches);
+
+        watches.clear();
+        for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+            watches.add(createWatch("another_id" + i, interval("1s")));
+        }
+        engine.start(watches);
+
+        advanceClockIfNeeded(new DateTime(clock.millis(), UTC).plusMillis(1100));
+        if (!latch.await(3 * count, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
+            fail("waiting too long for all watches to be triggered");
+        }
+
+        assertThat(firedWatchIds, everyItem(startsWith("another_id")));
+    }
+
     public void testAddHourly() throws Exception {
         final String name = "job_name";
         final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);