diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
index 804f7cc32ccb2..d6710d7828c81 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
@@ -887,6 +887,12 @@ class BuildPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
                 // TODO: remove this once cname is prepended to transport.publish_address by default in 8.0
                 test.systemProperty 'es.transport.cname_in_publish_address', 'true'
 
+                // Set netty system properties to the properties we configure in jvm.options
+                test.systemProperty('io.netty.noUnsafe', 'true')
+                test.systemProperty('io.netty.noKeySetOptimization', 'true')
+                test.systemProperty('io.netty.recycler.maxCapacityPerThread', '0')
+                test.systemProperty('io.netty.allocator.numDirectArenas', '0')
+
                 test.testLogging { TestLoggingContainer logging ->
                     logging.showExceptions = true
                     logging.showCauses = true
diff --git a/modules/transport-netty4/build.gradle b/modules/transport-netty4/build.gradle
index ff21cfa30d357..b390ab3af5829 100644
--- a/modules/transport-netty4/build.gradle
+++ b/modules/transport-netty4/build.gradle
@@ -51,9 +51,6 @@ test {
      * other if we allow them to set the number of available processors as it's set-once in Netty.
      */
     systemProperty 'es.set.netty.runtime.available.processors', 'false'
-
-    // Disable direct buffer pooling as it is disabled by default in Elasticsearch
-    systemProperty 'io.netty.allocator.numDirectArenas', '0'
 }
 
 integTestRunner {
@@ -62,9 +59,6 @@ integTestRunner {
      * other if we allow them to set the number of available processors as it's set-once in Netty.
      */
     systemProperty 'es.set.netty.runtime.available.processors', 'false'
-
-    // Disable direct buffer pooling as it is disabled by default in Elasticsearch
-    systemProperty 'io.netty.allocator.numDirectArenas', '0'
 }
 
 thirdPartyAudit {
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java
index b911a963073d2..857c32426c641 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESTestCase.java
@@ -242,9 +242,6 @@ private static void setTestSysProps() {
 
         // Enable Netty leak detection and monitor logger for logged leak errors
         System.setProperty("io.netty.leakDetection.level", "paranoid");
-
-        // Disable direct buffer pooling
-        System.setProperty("io.netty.allocator.numDirectArenas", "0");
     }
 
     protected final Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(getClass());