diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/util/concurrent/ThreadContext.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/util/concurrent/ThreadContext.java
index 0b1aa9a4a759a..b9c7177da828b 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/util/concurrent/ThreadContext.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/util/concurrent/ThreadContext.java
@@ -480,28 +480,37 @@ public <T> T getTransient(String key) {
      * @param value       the header value
      */
     public void addResponseHeader(final String key, final String value) {
-        addResponseHeader(key, value, v -> v);
+        updateResponseHeader(key, value, v -> v, false);
     }
 
     /**
-     * Remove the {@code value} for the specified {@code key}.
+     * Update the {@code value} for the specified {@code key}
      *
      * @param key         the header name
+     * @param value       the header value
      */
-    public void removeResponseHeader(final String key) {
-        threadLocal.get().responseHeaders.remove(key);
+    public void updateResponseHeader(final String key, final String value) {
+        updateResponseHeader(key, value, v -> v, true);
     }
 
     /**
-     * Add the {@code value} for the specified {@code key} with the specified {@code uniqueValue} used for de-duplication. Any duplicate
+     * Update the {@code value} for the specified {@code key} with the specified {@code uniqueValue} used for de-duplication. Any duplicate
      * {@code value} after applying {@code uniqueValue} is ignored.
      *
      * @param key         the header name
      * @param value       the header value
      * @param uniqueValue the function that produces de-duplication values
-     */
-    public void addResponseHeader(final String key, final String value, final Function<String, String> uniqueValue) {
-        threadLocal.set(threadLocal.get().putResponse(key, value, uniqueValue, maxWarningHeaderCount, maxWarningHeaderSize));
+     * @param replaceExistingKey whether to replace the existing header if it already exists
+     */
+    public void updateResponseHeader(
+        final String key,
+        final String value,
+        final Function<String, String> uniqueValue,
+        final boolean replaceExistingKey
+    ) {
+        threadLocal.set(
+            threadLocal.get().putResponse(key, value, uniqueValue, maxWarningHeaderCount, maxWarningHeaderSize, replaceExistingKey)
+        );
     }
 
     /**
@@ -726,7 +735,8 @@ private ThreadContextStruct putResponse(
             final String value,
             final Function<String, String> uniqueValue,
             final int maxWarningHeaderCount,
-            final long maxWarningHeaderSize
+            final long maxWarningHeaderSize,
+            final boolean replaceExistingKey
         ) {
             assert value != null;
             long newWarningHeaderSize = warningHeadersSize;
@@ -768,8 +778,13 @@ private ThreadContextStruct putResponse(
                 if (existingValues.contains(uniqueValue.apply(value))) {
                     return this;
                 }
-                // preserve insertion order
-                final Set<String> newValues = Stream.concat(existingValues.stream(), Stream.of(value)).collect(LINKED_HASH_SET_COLLECTOR);
+                Set<String> newValues;
+                if (replaceExistingKey) {
+                    newValues = Stream.of(value).collect(LINKED_HASH_SET_COLLECTOR);
+                } else {
+                    // preserve insertion order
+                    newValues = Stream.concat(existingValues.stream(), Stream.of(value)).collect(LINKED_HASH_SET_COLLECTOR);
+                }
                 newResponseHeaders = new HashMap<>(responseHeaders);
                 newResponseHeaders.put(key, Collections.unmodifiableSet(newValues));
             } else {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/tasks/TaskResourceTrackingService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/tasks/TaskResourceTrackingService.java
index 564eff6c10df6..ca1957cdb1633 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/tasks/TaskResourceTrackingService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/tasks/TaskResourceTrackingService.java
@@ -322,10 +322,7 @@ public void writeTaskResourceUsage(SearchShardTask task, String nodeId) {
                 )
                 .build();
             // Remove the existing TASK_RESOURCE_USAGE header since it would have come from an earlier phase in the same request.
-            synchronized (this) {
-                threadPool.getThreadContext().removeResponseHeader(TASK_RESOURCE_USAGE);
-                threadPool.getThreadContext().addResponseHeader(TASK_RESOURCE_USAGE, taskResourceInfo.toString());
-            }
+            threadPool.getThreadContext().updateResponseHeader(TASK_RESOURCE_USAGE, taskResourceInfo.toString());
         } catch (Exception e) {
             logger.debug("Error during writing task resource usage: ", e);
         }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/common/util/concurrent/ThreadContextTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/common/util/concurrent/ThreadContextTests.java
index 10669ca1a805b..e6d07c5630541 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/common/util/concurrent/ThreadContextTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/common/util/concurrent/ThreadContextTests.java
@@ -344,11 +344,16 @@ public void testResponseHeaders() {
         }
 
         final String value = HeaderWarning.formatWarning("qux");
-        threadContext.addResponseHeader("baz", value, s -> HeaderWarning.extractWarningValueFromWarningHeader(s, false));
+        threadContext.updateResponseHeader("baz", value, s -> HeaderWarning.extractWarningValueFromWarningHeader(s, false), false);
         // pretend that another thread created the same response at a different time
         if (randomBoolean()) {
             final String duplicateValue = HeaderWarning.formatWarning("qux");
-            threadContext.addResponseHeader("baz", duplicateValue, s -> HeaderWarning.extractWarningValueFromWarningHeader(s, false));
+            threadContext.updateResponseHeader(
+                "baz",
+                duplicateValue,
+                s -> HeaderWarning.extractWarningValueFromWarningHeader(s, false),
+                false
+            );
         }
 
         threadContext.addResponseHeader("Warning", "One is the loneliest number");