diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/async-search/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/search/AsyncSearchActionIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/async-search/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/search/AsyncSearchActionIT.java
index 25df836ea74dc..cb317e72ae3fc 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/async-search/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/search/AsyncSearchActionIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/async-search/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/search/AsyncSearchActionIT.java
@@ -24,11 +24,13 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.search.action.SubmitAsyncSearchRequest;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 
@@ -417,4 +419,37 @@ public void testSearchPhaseFailureNoCause() throws Exception {
         assertNotNull(response.getFailure());
         ensureTaskNotRunning(response.getId());
     }
+
+    public void testRetryVersionConflict() throws Exception {
+        SubmitAsyncSearchRequest request = new SubmitAsyncSearchRequest(indexName);
+        request.setWaitForCompletionTimeout(TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(10));
+        request.setKeepOnCompletion(true);
+        AsyncSearchResponse response = submitAsyncSearch(request);
+        assertNotNull(response.getSearchResponse());
+        assertFalse(response.isRunning());
+
+        List<Thread> threads = new ArrayList<>();
+        CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        List<Exception> exceptions = Collections.synchronizedList(new ArrayList<>());
+        for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
+            Runnable runnable = () -> {
+                for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
+                    try {
+                        latch.await();
+                        getAsyncSearch(response.getId(), TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(10));
+                    } catch (Exception exc) {
+                        exceptions.add(exc);
+                    }
+                }
+            };
+            Thread thread = new Thread(runnable);
+            thread.start();
+            threads.add(thread);
+        }
+        latch.countDown();
+        for (Thread thread : threads) {
+            thread.join();
+        }
+        assertTrue(exceptions.toString(), exceptions.isEmpty());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/async-search/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/search/TransportSubmitAsyncSearchAction.java b/x-pack/plugin/async-search/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/search/TransportSubmitAsyncSearchAction.java
index d12cd268e79c2..4903594b7bdba 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/async-search/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/search/TransportSubmitAsyncSearchAction.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/async-search/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/search/TransportSubmitAsyncSearchAction.java
@@ -173,24 +173,12 @@ private void onFatalFailure(AsyncSearchTask task, Exception error, boolean shoul
     private void onFinalResponse(AsyncSearchTask searchTask,
                                  AsyncSearchResponse response,
                                  Runnable nextAction) {
-        if (searchTask.isCancelled()) {
-            // the task was cancelled so we ensure that there is nothing stored in the response index.
-            store.deleteResponse(searchTask.getExecutionId(), ActionListener.wrap(
-                resp -> unregisterTaskAndMoveOn(searchTask, nextAction),
-                exc -> {
-                    logger.error(() -> new ParameterizedMessage("failed to clean async-search [{}]",
-                        searchTask.getExecutionId().getEncoded()), exc);
-                    unregisterTaskAndMoveOn(searchTask, nextAction);
-                }));
-            return;
-       }
-
         store.updateResponse(searchTask.getExecutionId().getDocId(), threadContext.getResponseHeaders(),response,
             ActionListener.wrap(resp -> unregisterTaskAndMoveOn(searchTask, nextAction),
                 exc -> {
                     Throwable cause = ExceptionsHelper.unwrapCause(exc);
                     if (cause instanceof DocumentMissingException == false &&
-                        cause instanceof VersionConflictEngineException == false) {
+                            cause instanceof VersionConflictEngineException == false) {
                         logger.error(() -> new ParameterizedMessage("failed to store async-search [{}]",
                             searchTask.getExecutionId().getEncoded()), exc);
                     }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/async/AsyncResultsService.java b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/async/AsyncResultsService.java
index 8b208ba3065ca..4e1d9d4381af9 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/async/AsyncResultsService.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/async/AsyncResultsService.java
@@ -85,14 +85,16 @@ public void retrieveResult(GetAsyncResultRequest request, ActionListener<Respons
                     ActionListener.wrap(
                         p -> getSearchResponseFromTask(searchId, request, nowInMillis, expirationTime, listener),
                         exc -> {
-                            //don't log when: the async search document or its index is not found. That can happen if an invalid
-                            //search id is provided or no async search initial response has been stored yet.
                             RestStatus status = ExceptionsHelper.status(ExceptionsHelper.unwrapCause(exc));
                             if (status != RestStatus.NOT_FOUND) {
                                 logger.error(() -> new ParameterizedMessage("failed to update expiration time for async-search [{}]",
                                     searchId.getEncoded()), exc);
+                                listener.onFailure(exc);
+                            } else {
+                                //the async search document or its index is not found.
+                                //That can happen if an invalid/deleted search id is provided.
+                                listener.onFailure(new ResourceNotFoundException(searchId.getEncoded()));
                             }
-                            listener.onFailure(new ResourceNotFoundException(searchId.getEncoded()));
                         }
                     ));
             } else {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/async/AsyncTaskIndexService.java b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/async/AsyncTaskIndexService.java
index 2819a62ee0ee7..f22a918eac8a2 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/async/AsyncTaskIndexService.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/async/AsyncTaskIndexService.java
@@ -193,7 +193,8 @@ public void updateResponse(String docId,
             UpdateRequest request = new UpdateRequest()
                 .index(index)
                 .id(docId)
-                .doc(source, XContentType.JSON);
+                .doc(source, XContentType.JSON)
+                .retryOnConflict(5);
             client.update(request, listener);
         } catch(Exception e) {
             listener.onFailure(e);
@@ -210,7 +211,8 @@ public void updateExpirationTime(String docId,
         Map<String, Object> source = Collections.singletonMap(EXPIRATION_TIME_FIELD, expirationTimeMillis);
         UpdateRequest request = new UpdateRequest().index(index)
             .id(docId)
-            .doc(source, XContentType.JSON);
+            .doc(source, XContentType.JSON)
+            .retryOnConflict(5);
         client.update(request, listener);
     }