diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/data-frame/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/dataframe/transforms/DataFrameTransformPersistentTasksExecutor.java b/x-pack/plugin/data-frame/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/dataframe/transforms/DataFrameTransformPersistentTasksExecutor.java
index 443d499dfefd1..97d4f9a818bbd 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/data-frame/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/dataframe/transforms/DataFrameTransformPersistentTasksExecutor.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/data-frame/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/dataframe/transforms/DataFrameTransformPersistentTasksExecutor.java
@@ -111,12 +111,6 @@ protected void nodeOperation(AllocatedPersistentTask task, @Nullable DataFrameTr
             new DataFrameTransformTask.ClientDataFrameIndexerBuilder(transformId)
                 .setAuditor(auditor)
                 .setClient(client)
-                .setIndexerState(currentIndexerState(transformPTaskState))
-                // If the transform persistent task state is `null` that means this is a "first run".
-                // If we have state then the task has relocated from another node in which case this
-                // state is preferred
-                .setInitialPosition(transformPTaskState == null ? null : transformPTaskState.getPosition())
-                .setProgress(transformPTaskState == null ? null : transformPTaskState.getProgress())
                 .setTransformsCheckpointService(dataFrameTransformsCheckpointService)
                 .setTransformsConfigManager(transformsConfigManager);
 
@@ -132,18 +126,22 @@ protected void nodeOperation(AllocatedPersistentTask task, @Nullable DataFrameTr
         // Schedule execution regardless
         ActionListener<DataFrameTransformStateAndStats> transformStatsActionListener = ActionListener.wrap(
             stateAndStats -> {
-                indexerBuilder.setInitialStats(stateAndStats.getTransformStats());
-                if (transformPTaskState == null) { // prefer the persistent task state
-                    indexerBuilder.setInitialPosition(stateAndStats.getTransformState().getPosition());
-                    indexerBuilder.setProgress(stateAndStats.getTransformState().getProgress());
-                }
-
-                final Long checkpoint = previousCheckpoint != null ? previousCheckpoint : stateAndStats.getTransformState().getCheckpoint();
+                logger.trace("[{}] initializing state and stats: [{}]", transformId, stateAndStats.toString());
+                indexerBuilder.setInitialStats(stateAndStats.getTransformStats())
+                    .setInitialPosition(stateAndStats.getTransformState().getPosition())
+                    .setProgress(stateAndStats.getTransformState().getProgress())
+                    .setIndexerState(currentIndexerState(stateAndStats.getTransformState()));
+                logger.info("[{}] Loading existing state: [{}], position [{}]",
+                    transformId,
+                    stateAndStats.getTransformState(),
+                    stateAndStats.getTransformState().getPosition());
+
+                final Long checkpoint = stateAndStats.getTransformState().getCheckpoint();
                 startTask(buildTask, indexerBuilder, checkpoint, startTaskListener);
             },
             error -> {
                 if (error instanceof ResourceNotFoundException == false) {
-                    logger.error("Unable to load previously persisted statistics for transform [" + params.getId() + "]", error);
+                    logger.warn("Unable to load previously persisted statistics for transform [" + params.getId() + "]", error);
                 }
                 startTask(buildTask, indexerBuilder, previousCheckpoint, startTaskListener);
             }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/data-frame/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/dataframe/transforms/DataFrameTransformTask.java b/x-pack/plugin/data-frame/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/dataframe/transforms/DataFrameTransformTask.java
index 20ef5be09e899..a5ce462926a96 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/data-frame/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/dataframe/transforms/DataFrameTransformTask.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/data-frame/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/dataframe/transforms/DataFrameTransformTask.java
@@ -87,12 +87,10 @@ public DataFrameTransformTask(long id, String type, String action, TaskId parent
         String initialReason = null;
         long initialGeneration = 0;
         Map<String, Object> initialPosition = null;
-        logger.trace("[{}] init, got state: [{}]", transform.getId(), state != null);
         if (state != null) {
             initialTaskState = state.getTaskState();
             initialReason = state.getReason();
             final IndexerState existingState = state.getIndexerState();
-            logger.info("[{}] Loading existing state: [{}], position [{}]", transform.getId(), existingState, state.getPosition());
             if (existingState.equals(IndexerState.INDEXING)) {
                 // reset to started as no indexer is running
                 initialState = IndexerState.STARTED;
@@ -211,6 +209,10 @@ public synchronized void start(Long startingCheckpoint, ActionListener<Response>
             getIndexer().getProgress());
 
         logger.info("Updating state for data frame transform [{}] to [{}]", transform.getId(), state.toString());
+        // Even though the indexer information is persisted to an index, we still need DataFrameTransformTaskState in the clusterstate
+        // This keeps track of STARTED, FAILED, STOPPED
+        // This is because a FAILED state can occur because we cannot read the config from the internal index, which would imply that
+        //   we could not read the previous state information from said index.
         persistStateToClusterState(state, ActionListener.wrap(
             task -> {
                 auditor.info(transform.getId(),
@@ -295,6 +297,10 @@ synchronized void markAsFailed(String reason, ActionListener<Void> listener) {
         taskState.set(DataFrameTransformTaskState.FAILED);
         stateReason.set(reason);
         auditor.error(transform.getId(), reason);
+        // Even though the indexer information is persisted to an index, we still need DataFrameTransformTaskState in the clusterstate
+        // This keeps track of STARTED, FAILED, STOPPED
+        // This is because a FAILED state can occur because we cannot read the config from the internal index, which would imply that
+        //   we could not read the previous state information from said index.
         persistStateToClusterState(getState(), ActionListener.wrap(
             r -> listener.onResponse(null),
             listener::onFailure