diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/MasterFaultDetection.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/MasterFaultDetection.java
index b7acfb685deae..81d4c19d33ee2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/MasterFaultDetection.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/MasterFaultDetection.java
@@ -111,28 +111,10 @@ public void restart(DiscoveryNode masterNode, String reason) {
         }
     }
 
-    public void start(final DiscoveryNode masterNode, String reason) {
-        synchronized (masterNodeMutex) {
-            if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
-                logger.debug("[master] starting fault detection against master [{}], reason [{}]", masterNode, reason);
-            }
-            innerStart(masterNode);
-        }
-    }
-
     private void innerStart(final DiscoveryNode masterNode) {
         this.masterNode = masterNode;
         this.retryCount = 0;
         this.notifiedMasterFailure.set(false);
-
-        // try and connect to make sure we are connected
-        try {
-            transportService.connectToNode(masterNode);
-        } catch (final Exception e) {
-            // notify master failure (which stops also) and bail..
-            notifyMasterFailure(masterNode, e, "failed to perform initial connect ");
-            return;
-        }
         if (masterPinger != null) {
             masterPinger.stop();
         }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/ZenDiscovery.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/ZenDiscovery.java
index b6a023bad3598..94c46ed867094 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/ZenDiscovery.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/ZenDiscovery.java
@@ -727,12 +727,6 @@ public ClusterTasksResult<LocalClusterUpdateTask> execute(ClusterState currentSt
                 if (shouldIgnoreOrRejectNewClusterState(logger, currentState, newClusterState)) {
                     return unchanged();
                 }
-
-                // check to see that we monitor the correct master of the cluster
-                if (masterFD.masterNode() == null || !masterFD.masterNode().equals(newClusterState.nodes().getMasterNode())) {
-                    masterFD.restart(newClusterState.nodes().getMasterNode(), "new cluster state received and we are monitoring the wrong master [" + masterFD.masterNode() + "]");
-                }
-
                 if (currentState.blocks().hasGlobalBlock(discoverySettings.getNoMasterBlock())) {
                     // its a fresh update from the master as we transition from a start of not having a master to having one
                     logger.debug("got first state from fresh master [{}]", newClusterState.nodes().getMasterNodeId());
@@ -786,6 +780,10 @@ public void onFailure(String source, Exception e) {
             public void clusterStateProcessed(String source, ClusterState oldState, ClusterState newState) {
                 try {
                     if (newClusterState != null) {
+                        // check to see that we monitor the correct master of the cluster
+                        if (masterFD.masterNode() == null || !masterFD.masterNode().equals(newClusterState.nodes().getMasterNode())) {
+                            masterFD.restart(newClusterState.nodes().getMasterNode(), "new cluster state received and we are monitoring the wrong master [" + masterFD.masterNode() + "]");
+                        }
                         publishClusterState.pendingStatesQueue().markAsProcessed(newClusterState);
                     }
                 } catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/ZenFaultDetectionTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/ZenFaultDetectionTests.java
index b24c5c367b4bc..837c74a3c61b5 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/ZenFaultDetectionTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/ZenFaultDetectionTests.java
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ public void testMasterFaultDetectionConnectOnDisconnect() throws InterruptedExce
         setState(clusterServiceA, state);
         MasterFaultDetection masterFD = new MasterFaultDetection(settings.build(), threadPool, serviceA,
             clusterServiceA);
-        masterFD.start(nodeB, "test");
+        masterFD.restart(nodeB, "test");
 
         final String[] failureReason = new String[1];
         final DiscoveryNode[] failureNode = new DiscoveryNode[1];
@@ -290,14 +290,14 @@ public void testMasterFaultDetectionNotSizeLimited() throws InterruptedException
 
         MasterFaultDetection masterFDNodeA = new MasterFaultDetection(Settings.builder().put(settingsA).put(settings).build(),
             threadPool, serviceA, clusterServiceA);
-        masterFDNodeA.start(nodeB, "test");
+        masterFDNodeA.restart(nodeB, "test");
 
         final ClusterState stateNodeB = ClusterState.builder(clusterName).nodes(buildNodesForB(true)).build();
         setState(clusterServiceB, stateNodeB);
 
         MasterFaultDetection masterFDNodeB = new MasterFaultDetection(Settings.builder().put(settingsB).put(settings).build(),
             threadPool, serviceB, clusterServiceB);
-        masterFDNodeB.start(nodeB, "test");
+        masterFDNodeB.restart(nodeB, "test");
 
         // let's do a few pings
         pingProbeA.awaitMinCompletedPings();