diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/deprecation/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/deprecation/IndexDeprecationChecksTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/deprecation/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/deprecation/IndexDeprecationChecksTests.java
index 4896bf715a98e..882151553a1b6 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/deprecation/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/deprecation/IndexDeprecationChecksTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/deprecation/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/deprecation/IndexDeprecationChecksTests.java
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ private static void addRandomField(List<String> existingFieldNames, final int fi
                 mappingBuilder.startObject("properties");
                 {
                     int subfields = randomIntBetween(1, 10);
-                    while (existingFieldNames.size() < subfields) {
+                    while (existingFieldNames.size() < subfields && fieldCount.get() <= fieldLimit) {
                         addRandomField(existingFieldNames, fieldLimit, mappingBuilder, fieldCount);
                     }
                 }