diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/indices/replication/SegmentReplicationIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/indices/replication/SegmentReplicationIT.java
index 2b879f1c37d88..ac57c78d20b73 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/indices/replication/SegmentReplicationIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/indices/replication/SegmentReplicationIT.java
@@ -733,6 +733,7 @@ public void testDropPrimaryDuringReplication() throws Exception {
             // start another replica.
             dataNodes.add(internalCluster().startDataOnlyNode());
             ensureGreen(INDEX_NAME);
+            waitForSearchableDocs(initialDocCount, dataNodes);
 
             // index another doc and refresh - without this the new replica won't catch up.
             String docId = String.valueOf(initialDocCount + 1);