diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/downsample/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/downsample/TransportDownsampleAction.java b/x-pack/plugin/downsample/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/downsample/TransportDownsampleAction.java
index 66511f2cc15f0..abf629dc9c1fa 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/downsample/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/downsample/TransportDownsampleAction.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/downsample/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/downsample/TransportDownsampleAction.java
@@ -341,10 +341,22 @@ protected void masterOperation(
                 delegate.onFailure(e);
                 return;
             }
+
+            /*
+             * When creating the downsample index, we copy the index.number_of_shards from source index,
+             * and we set the index.number_of_replicas to 0, to avoid replicating the index being built.
+             * Also, we set the index.refresh_interval to -1.
+             * We will set the correct number of replicas and refresh the index later.
+             *
+             * We should note that there is a risk of losing a node during the downsample process. In this
+             * case downsample will fail.
+             */
+            int minNumReplicas = clusterService.getSettings().getAsInt(Downsample.DOWNSAMPLE_MIN_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_NAME, 0);
+
             // 3. Create downsample index
             createDownsampleIndex(
-                clusterService.getSettings(),
                 downsampleIndexName,
+                minNumReplicas,
                 sourceIndexMetadata,
                 mapping,
                 request,
@@ -353,6 +365,7 @@ protected void masterOperation(
                         performShardDownsampling(
                             request,
                             delegate,
+                            minNumReplicas,
                             sourceIndexMetadata,
                             downsampleIndexName,
                             parentTask,
@@ -382,6 +395,7 @@ protected void masterOperation(
                         performShardDownsampling(
                             request,
                             delegate,
+                            minNumReplicas,
                             sourceIndexMetadata,
                             downsampleIndexName,
                             parentTask,
@@ -451,6 +465,7 @@ private boolean canShortCircuit(
     private void performShardDownsampling(
         DownsampleAction.Request request,
         ActionListener<AcknowledgedResponse> listener,
+        int minNumReplicas,
         IndexMetadata sourceIndexMetadata,
         String downsampleIndexName,
         TaskId parentTask,
@@ -509,7 +524,15 @@ public void onResponse(PersistentTasksCustomMetadata.PersistentTask<PersistentTa
                     logger.info("Downsampling task [" + persistentTaskId + " completed for shard " + params.shardId());
                     if (countDown.decrementAndGet() == 0) {
                         logger.info("All downsampling tasks completed [" + numberOfShards + "]");
-                        updateTargetIndexSettingStep(request, listener, sourceIndexMetadata, downsampleIndexName, parentTask, startTime);
+                        updateTargetIndexSettingStep(
+                            request,
+                            listener,
+                            minNumReplicas,
+                            sourceIndexMetadata,
+                            downsampleIndexName,
+                            parentTask,
+                            startTime
+                        );
                     }
                 }
 
@@ -556,6 +579,7 @@ public void onFailure(Exception e) {
     private void updateTargetIndexSettingStep(
         final DownsampleAction.Request request,
         final ActionListener<AcknowledgedResponse> listener,
+        int minNumReplicas,
         final IndexMetadata sourceIndexMetadata,
         final String downsampleIndexName,
         final TaskId parentTask,
@@ -564,7 +588,7 @@ private void updateTargetIndexSettingStep(
         // 4. Make downsample index read-only and set the correct number of replicas
         final Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder().put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_BLOCKS_WRITE, true);
         // Number of replicas had been previously set to 0 to speed up index population
-        if (sourceIndexMetadata.getNumberOfReplicas() > 0) {
+        if (sourceIndexMetadata.getNumberOfReplicas() > 0 && minNumReplicas == 0) {
             settings.put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, sourceIndexMetadata.getNumberOfReplicas());
         }
         // Setting index.hidden has been initially set to true. We revert this to the value of the
@@ -842,28 +866,18 @@ private static void addDynamicTemplates(final XContentBuilder builder) throws IO
     }
 
     private void createDownsampleIndex(
-        Settings settings,
         String downsampleIndexName,
+        int minNumReplicas,
         IndexMetadata sourceIndexMetadata,
         String mapping,
         DownsampleAction.Request request,
         ActionListener<AcknowledgedResponse> listener
     ) {
-        /*
-         * When creating the downsample index, we copy the index.number_of_shards from source index,
-         * and we set the index.number_of_replicas to 0, to avoid replicating the index being built.
-         * Also, we set the index.refresh_interval to -1.
-         * We will set the correct number of replicas and refresh the index later.
-         *
-         * We should note that there is a risk of losing a node during the downsample process. In this
-         * case downsample will fail.
-         */
-        int numberOfReplicas = settings.getAsInt(Downsample.DOWNSAMPLE_MIN_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_NAME, 0);
         var downsampleInterval = request.getDownsampleConfig().getInterval().toString();
         Settings.Builder builder = Settings.builder()
             .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_INDEX_HIDDEN, true)
             .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, sourceIndexMetadata.getNumberOfShards())
-            .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, String.valueOf(numberOfReplicas))
+            .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, minNumReplicas)
             .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_REFRESH_INTERVAL_SETTING.getKey(), "-1")
             .put(IndexMetadata.INDEX_DOWNSAMPLE_STATUS.getKey(), DownsampleTaskStatus.STARTED)
             .put(IndexMetadata.INDEX_DOWNSAMPLE_INTERVAL.getKey(), downsampleInterval)