diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
index 13708add48124..64dfedc774375 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
@@ -933,6 +933,7 @@ public StoreStats storeStats() {
         try {
             return store.stats();
         } catch (IOException e) {
+            failShard("io exception while building 'store stats'",e);
             throw new ElasticsearchException("io exception while building 'store stats'", e);
         } catch (AlreadyClosedException ex) {
             return null; // already closed