diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/SnapshotsService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/SnapshotsService.java
index 0bc406654a1c6..a8ca8cba31fe7 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/SnapshotsService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/SnapshotsService.java
@@ -556,7 +556,6 @@ public void clusterStateProcessed(String source, ClusterState oldState, final Cl
 
             @Override
             public TimeValue timeout() {
-                initializingClones.remove(snapshot);
                 return request.masterNodeTimeout();
             }
         }, "clone_snapshot [" + request.source() + "][" + snapshotName + ']', listener::onFailure);