diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/cluster/routing/WeightedRoutingIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/cluster/routing/WeightedRoutingIT.java
index 2e0dd579d6910..a64b50321d265 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/cluster/routing/WeightedRoutingIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/cluster/routing/WeightedRoutingIT.java
@@ -13,12 +13,14 @@
 import org.opensearch.action.admin.cluster.shards.routing.weighted.delete.ClusterDeleteWeightedRoutingResponse;
 import org.opensearch.action.admin.cluster.shards.routing.weighted.get.ClusterGetWeightedRoutingResponse;
 import org.opensearch.action.admin.cluster.shards.routing.weighted.put.ClusterPutWeightedRoutingResponse;
+import org.opensearch.action.admin.cluster.state.ClusterStateRequest;
 import org.opensearch.cluster.health.ClusterHealthStatus;
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.opensearch.core.rest.RestStatus;
 import org.opensearch.discovery.ClusterManagerNotDiscoveredException;
 import org.opensearch.plugins.Plugin;
 import org.opensearch.snapshots.mockstore.MockRepository;
+import org.opensearch.test.InternalTestCluster;
 import org.opensearch.test.OpenSearchIntegTestCase;
 import org.opensearch.test.disruption.NetworkDisruption;
 import org.opensearch.test.transport.MockTransportService;
@@ -715,4 +717,144 @@ public void testClusterHealthResponseWithEnsureNodeWeighedInParam() throws Excep
         assertFalse(nodeLocalHealth.isTimedOut());
         assertTrue(nodeLocalHealth.hasDiscoveredClusterManager());
     }
+
+    public void testReadWriteWeightedRoutingMetadataOnNodeRestart() throws Exception {
+        Settings commonSettings = Settings.builder()
+            .put("cluster.routing.allocation.awareness.attributes", "zone")
+            .put("cluster.routing.allocation.awareness.force.zone.values", "a,b,c")
+            .build();
+
+        internalCluster().startClusterManagerOnlyNode(Settings.builder().put(commonSettings).build());
+
+        logger.info("--> starting 1 nodes on zones 'a' & 'b' & 'c'");
+        List<String> nodes_in_zone_a = internalCluster().startDataOnlyNodes(
+            1,
+            Settings.builder().put(commonSettings).put("node.attr.zone", "a").build()
+        );
+        List<String> nodes_in_zone_b = internalCluster().startDataOnlyNodes(
+            1,
+            Settings.builder().put(commonSettings).put("node.attr.zone", "b").build()
+        );
+        List<String> nodes_in_zone_c = internalCluster().startDataOnlyNodes(
+            1,
+            Settings.builder().put(commonSettings).put("node.attr.zone", "c").build()
+        );
+
+        logger.info("--> waiting for nodes to form a cluster");
+        ClusterHealthResponse health = client().admin().cluster().prepareHealth().setWaitForNodes("4").execute().actionGet();
+        assertThat(health.isTimedOut(), equalTo(false));
+
+        ensureGreen();
+
+        logger.info("--> setting shard routing weights for weighted round robin");
+        Map<String, Double> weights = Map.of("a", 1.0, "b", 2.0, "c", 3.0);
+        WeightedRouting weightedRouting = new WeightedRouting("zone", weights);
+
+        ClusterPutWeightedRoutingResponse response = client().admin()
+            .cluster()
+            .prepareWeightedRouting()
+            .setWeightedRouting(weightedRouting)
+            .setVersion(-1)
+            .get();
+        assertEquals(response.isAcknowledged(), true);
+
+        ClusterDeleteWeightedRoutingResponse deleteResponse = client().admin().cluster().prepareDeleteWeightedRouting().setVersion(0).get();
+        assertTrue(deleteResponse.isAcknowledged());
+
+        // check weighted routing metadata after node restart, ensure node comes healthy after restart
+        internalCluster().restartNode(nodes_in_zone_a.get(0), new InternalTestCluster.RestartCallback());
+        ensureGreen();
+        assertNotNull(internalCluster().clusterService().state().metadata().weightedRoutingMetadata());
+
+        //make sure restarted node joins the cluster
+        assertEquals(3, internalCluster().clusterService().state().nodes().getDataNodes().size());
+        assertNotNull(
+            internalCluster().client(nodes_in_zone_a.get(0))
+                .admin()
+                .cluster()
+                .state(new ClusterStateRequest().local(true))
+                .get()
+                .getState()
+                .metadata()
+                .weightedRoutingMetadata()
+        );
+        assertNotNull(
+            internalCluster().client(nodes_in_zone_b.get(0))
+                .admin()
+                .cluster()
+                .state(new ClusterStateRequest().local(true))
+                .get()
+                .getState()
+                .metadata()
+                .weightedRoutingMetadata()
+        );
+        assertNotNull(
+            internalCluster().client(nodes_in_zone_c.get(0))
+                .admin()
+                .cluster()
+                .state(new ClusterStateRequest().local(true))
+                .get()
+                .getState()
+                .metadata()
+                .weightedRoutingMetadata()
+        );
+        assertNotNull(
+            internalCluster().client(internalCluster().getClusterManagerName())
+                .admin()
+                .cluster()
+                .state(new ClusterStateRequest().local(true))
+                .get()
+                .getState()
+                .metadata()
+                .weightedRoutingMetadata()
+        );
+
+        internalCluster().restartNode(internalCluster().getClusterManagerName(), new InternalTestCluster.RestartCallback());
+        ensureGreen();
+        assertNotNull(internalCluster().clusterService().state().metadata().weightedRoutingMetadata());
+
+        // make sure restarted node joins the cluster
+        assertEquals(3, internalCluster().clusterService().state().nodes().getDataNodes().size());
+        assertNotNull(
+            internalCluster().client(nodes_in_zone_a.get(0))
+                .admin()
+                .cluster()
+                .state(new ClusterStateRequest().local(true))
+                .get()
+                .getState()
+                .metadata()
+                .weightedRoutingMetadata()
+        );
+        assertNotNull(
+            internalCluster().client(nodes_in_zone_b.get(0))
+                .admin()
+                .cluster()
+                .state(new ClusterStateRequest().local(true))
+                .get()
+                .getState()
+                .metadata()
+                .weightedRoutingMetadata()
+        );
+        assertNotNull(
+            internalCluster().client(nodes_in_zone_c.get(0))
+                .admin()
+                .cluster()
+                .state(new ClusterStateRequest().local(true))
+                .get()
+                .getState()
+                .metadata()
+                .weightedRoutingMetadata()
+        );
+        assertNotNull(
+            internalCluster().client(internalCluster().getClusterManagerName())
+                .admin()
+                .cluster()
+                .state(new ClusterStateRequest().local(true))
+                .get()
+                .getState()
+                .metadata()
+                .weightedRoutingMetadata()
+        );
+
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/routing/WeightedRouting.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/routing/WeightedRouting.java
index aa8a99273b160..468fac08d2946 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/routing/WeightedRouting.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/routing/WeightedRouting.java
@@ -54,9 +54,8 @@ public boolean isSet() {
 
     @Override
     public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
-        if (attributeName != null) {
-            out.writeString(attributeName);
-        }
+
+        out.writeString(attributeName);
         out.writeGenericValue(weights);
     }