diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClient.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClient.java
index 5e89dc256d8b2..cfba3d58ee11f 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClient.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClient.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.client.transport;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.internal.io.IOUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.Action;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
@@ -128,7 +129,8 @@ private static ClientTemplate buildTemplate(Settings providedSettings, Settings
             providedSettings = Settings.builder().put(providedSettings).put(Node.NODE_NAME_SETTING.getKey(), "_client_").build();
         }
         final PluginsService pluginsService = newPluginService(providedSettings, plugins);
-        final Settings settings = Settings.builder().put(defaultSettings).put(pluginsService.updatedSettings()).build();
+        final Settings settings = Settings.builder().put(defaultSettings).put(pluginsService.updatedSettings()).put(ThreadContext.PREFIX
+            + "." + "transport_client", true).build();
         final List<Closeable> resourcesToClose = new ArrayList<>();
         final ThreadPool threadPool = new ThreadPool(settings);
         resourcesToClose.add(() -> ThreadPool.terminate(threadPool, 10, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
index 7b4ee27b0f065..d588ec9561af0 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
@@ -1367,6 +1367,7 @@ public final void messageReceived(BytesReference reference, TcpChannel channel,
             streamIn = new NamedWriteableAwareStreamInput(streamIn, namedWriteableRegistry);
             streamIn.setVersion(version);
             threadPool.getThreadContext().readHeaders(streamIn);
+            threadPool.getThreadContext().putTransient("_remote_address", remoteAddress);
             if (TransportStatus.isRequest(status)) {
                 handleRequest(channel, profileName, streamIn, requestId, messageLengthBytes, version, remoteAddress, status);
             } else {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/AbstractClientHeadersTestCase.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/AbstractClientHeadersTestCase.java
index 8c1b22f7fb171..db9f9d83c816a 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/AbstractClientHeadersTestCase.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/AbstractClientHeadersTestCase.java
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ public void testOverrideHeader() throws Exception {
 
     protected static void assertHeaders(Map<String, String> headers, Map<String, String> expected) {
         assertNotNull(headers);
+        headers = new HashMap<>(headers);
+        headers.remove("transport_client"); // default header on TPC
         assertEquals(expected.size(), headers.size());
         for (Map.Entry<String, String> expectedEntry : expected.entrySet()) {
             assertEquals(headers.get(expectedEntry.getKey()), expectedEntry.getValue());
@@ -146,7 +148,6 @@ protected static void assertHeaders(Map<String, String> headers, Map<String, Str
     }
 
     protected static void assertHeaders(ThreadPool pool) {
-        Map<String, String> headers = new HashMap<>();
         Settings asSettings = HEADER_SETTINGS.getAsSettings(ThreadContext.PREFIX);
         assertHeaders(pool.getThreadContext().getHeaders(),
             asSettings.keySet().stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(Function.identity(), k -> asSettings.get(k))));
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClientTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClientTests.java
index c97418bae373a..1830698d90c6f 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClientTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/client/transport/TransportClientTests.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.env.Environment;
 import org.elasticsearch.plugins.Plugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
@@ -63,6 +64,17 @@ public void testPluginNamedWriteablesRegistered() {
         }
     }
 
+    public void testDefaultHeaderContainsPlugins() {
+        Settings baseSettings = Settings.builder()
+            .put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), createTempDir())
+            .build();
+        try (TransportClient client = new MockTransportClient(baseSettings, Arrays.asList(MockPlugin.class))) {
+            ThreadContext threadContext = client.threadPool().getThreadContext();
+            assertEquals("true", threadContext.getHeader("transport_client"));
+            assertEquals("true", threadContext.getHeader("test"));
+        }
+    }
+
     public static class MockPlugin extends Plugin {
 
         @Override
@@ -70,6 +82,11 @@ public List<Entry> getNamedWriteables() {
             return Arrays.asList(new Entry[]{ new Entry(MockNamedWriteable.class, MockNamedWriteable.NAME, MockNamedWriteable::new)});
         }
 
+        @Override
+        public Settings additionalSettings() {
+            return Settings.builder().put(ThreadContext.PREFIX + "." + "test", true).build();
+        }
+
         public class MockNamedWriteable implements NamedWriteable {
 
             static final String NAME = "mockNamedWritable";
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/XPackClientPlugin.java b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/XPackClientPlugin.java
index 4853588bd3ead..c719cdcbd022e 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/XPackClientPlugin.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/XPackClientPlugin.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.BigArrays;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.PageCacheRecycler;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.NamedXContentRegistry;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.breaker.CircuitBreakerService;
 import org.elasticsearch.license.DeleteLicenseAction;
@@ -193,6 +194,7 @@ static Settings additionalSettings(final Settings settings, final boolean enable
             final Settings.Builder builder = Settings.builder();
             builder.put(SecuritySettings.addTransportSettings(settings));
             builder.put(SecuritySettings.addUserSettings(settings));
+            builder.put(ThreadContext.PREFIX + "." + "has_xpack", true);
             return builder.build();
         } else {
             return Settings.EMPTY;