diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
index e25d954aa4f1c..b010d7982fd2d 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.component.AbstractComponent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.regex.Regex;
 
-import java.util.AbstractMap;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -54,7 +53,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractScopedSettings extends AbstractComponent {
     private final List<SettingUpdater<?>> settingUpdaters = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
     private final Map<String, Setting<?>> complexMatchers;
     private final Map<String, Setting<?>> keySettings;
-    private final Map<Setting<?>, Function<Map.Entry<String, String>, Map.Entry<String, String>>> settingUpgraders;
+    private final Map<Setting<?>, SettingUpgrader<?>> settingUpgraders;
     private final Setting.Property scope;
     private static final Pattern KEY_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("^(?:[-\\w]+[.])*[-\\w]+$");
     private static final Pattern GROUP_KEY_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("^(?:[-\\w]+[.])+$");
@@ -70,12 +69,8 @@ protected AbstractScopedSettings(
 
         this.settingUpgraders =
                 Collections.unmodifiableMap(
-                        settingUpgraders
-                                .stream()
-                                .collect(
-                                        Collectors.toMap(
-                                                SettingUpgrader::getSetting,
-                                                u -> e -> new AbstractMap.SimpleEntry<>(u.getKey(e.getKey()), u.getValue(e.getValue())))));
+                        settingUpgraders.stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(SettingUpgrader::getSetting, Function.identity())));
+
 
         this.scope = scope;
         Map<String, Setting<?>> complexMatchers = new HashMap<>();
@@ -786,15 +781,24 @@ public Settings upgradeSettings(final Settings settings) {
         boolean changed = false; // track if any settings were upgraded
         for (final String key : settings.keySet()) {
             final Setting<?> setting = getRaw(key);
-            final Function<Map.Entry<String, String>, Map.Entry<String, String>> upgrader = settingUpgraders.get(setting);
+            final SettingUpgrader<?> upgrader = settingUpgraders.get(setting);
             if (upgrader == null) {
                 // the setting does not have an upgrader, copy the setting
                 builder.copy(key, settings);
             } else {
                 // the setting has an upgrader, so mark that we have changed a setting and apply the upgrade logic
                 changed = true;
-                final Map.Entry<String, String> upgrade = upgrader.apply(new Entry(key, settings));
-                builder.put(upgrade.getKey(), upgrade.getValue());
+                if (setting.isListSetting()) {
+                    final List<String> value = settings.getAsList(key);
+                    final String upgradedKey = upgrader.getKey(key);
+                    final List<String> upgradedValue = upgrader.getListValue(value);
+                    builder.putList(upgradedKey, upgradedValue);
+                } else {
+                    final String value = settings.get(key);
+                    final String upgradedKey = upgrader.getKey(key);
+                    final String upgradedValue = upgrader.getValue(value);
+                    builder.put(upgradedKey, upgradedValue);
+                }
             }
         }
         // we only return a new instance if there was an upgrade
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/SettingUpgrader.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/SettingUpgrader.java
index 91f2bead300d3..bc41b55490574 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/SettingUpgrader.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/SettingUpgrader.java
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.common.settings;
 
+import java.util.List;
+
 /**
  * Represents the logic to upgrade a setting.
  *
@@ -51,4 +53,8 @@ default String getValue(final String value) {
         return value;
     }
 
+    default List<String> getListValue(final List<String> value) {
+        return value;
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ScopedSettingsTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ScopedSettingsTests.java
index 0ee1d2e9c4a80..6766316fafd46 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ScopedSettingsTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ScopedSettingsTests.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 import java.util.function.BiConsumer;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
@@ -1171,4 +1172,47 @@ public String getValue(final String value) {
         }
     }
 
+    public void testUpgradeListSetting() {
+        final Setting<List<String>> oldSetting =
+                Setting.listSetting("foo.old", Collections.emptyList(), Function.identity(), Property.NodeScope);
+        final Setting<List<String>> newSetting =
+                Setting.listSetting("foo.new", Collections.emptyList(), Function.identity(), Property.NodeScope);
+
+        final AbstractScopedSettings service =
+                new ClusterSettings(
+                        Settings.EMPTY,
+                        new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(oldSetting, newSetting)),
+                        Collections.singleton(new SettingUpgrader<List<String>>() {
+
+                            @Override
+                            public Setting<List<String>> getSetting() {
+                                return oldSetting;
+                            }
+
+                            @Override
+                            public String getKey(final String key) {
+                                return "foo.new";
+                            }
+
+                            @Override
+                            public List<String> getListValue(final List<String> value) {
+                                return value.stream().map(s -> "new." + s).collect(Collectors.toList());
+                            }
+                        }));
+
+        final int length = randomIntBetween(0, 16);
+        final List<String> values = length == 0 ? Collections.emptyList() : new ArrayList<>(length);
+        for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+            values.add(randomAlphaOfLength(8));
+        }
+
+        final Settings settings = Settings.builder().putList("foo.old", values).build();
+        final Settings upgradedSettings = service.upgradeSettings(settings);
+        assertFalse(oldSetting.exists(upgradedSettings));
+        assertTrue(newSetting.exists(upgradedSettings));
+        assertThat(
+                newSetting.get(upgradedSettings),
+                equalTo(oldSetting.get(settings).stream().map(s -> "new." + s).collect(Collectors.toList())));
+    }
+
 }