diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/MonitoringService.java b/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/MonitoringService.java
index 28cc769c46d7f..9f56d02253877 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/MonitoringService.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/MonitoringService.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterState;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.ClusterService;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.component.AbstractLifecycleComponent;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.component.Lifecycle;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Setting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
@@ -218,6 +219,11 @@ public void doRun() {
                 return;
             }
 
+            if (clusterService.lifecycleState() != Lifecycle.State.STARTED) {
+                logger.debug("cluster service not started");
+                return;
+            }
+
             if (semaphore.tryAcquire() == false) {
                 logger.debug("monitoring execution is skipped until previous execution terminated");
                 return;
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/MonitoringServiceTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/MonitoringServiceTests.java
index f67b828606d07..14c2f332c0f54 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/MonitoringServiceTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/MonitoringServiceTests.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterState;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.service.ClusterService;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.component.Lifecycle;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.ClusterSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.license.XPackLicenseState;
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ protected XPackLicenseState getLicenseState() {
         clusterSettings = new ClusterSettings(Settings.EMPTY, new HashSet<>(monitoring.getSettings()));
         when(clusterService.getClusterSettings()).thenReturn(clusterSettings);
         when(clusterService.state()).thenReturn(mock(ClusterState.class));
+        when(clusterService.lifecycleState()).thenReturn(Lifecycle.State.STARTED);
     }
 
     @After