diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
index de2254bc3b4e4..56674d933a163 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
@@ -1873,7 +1873,7 @@ public IndexSearcher wrap(IndexSearcher searcher) throws EngineException {
                 wrapper,
                 new InternalEngineFactory(),
                 () -> {},
-                EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, false);
+                EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER);
 
         recoverShardFromStore(newShard);
 
@@ -2025,7 +2025,7 @@ public IndexSearcher wrap(IndexSearcher searcher) throws EngineException {
                 wrapper,
                 new InternalEngineFactory(),
                 () -> {},
-                EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, false);
+                EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER);
 
         recoverShardFromStore(newShard);
 
@@ -2508,7 +2508,7 @@ public void testReadSnapshotAndCheckIndexConcurrently() throws Exception {
                 .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_CHECK_ON_STARTUP.getKey(), randomFrom("false", "true", "checksum", "fix")))
             .build();
         final IndexShard newShard = newShard(shardRouting, indexShard.shardPath(), indexMetaData,
-            null, indexShard.engineFactory, indexShard.getGlobalCheckpointSyncer(), EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, false);
+            null, indexShard.engineFactory, indexShard.getGlobalCheckpointSyncer(), EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER);
 
         Store.MetadataSnapshot storeFileMetaDatas = newShard.snapshotStoreMetadata();
         assertTrue("at least 2 files, commit and data: " + storeFileMetaDatas.toString(), storeFileMetaDatas.size() > 1);
@@ -3015,7 +3015,7 @@ public void onShardInactive(IndexShard indexShard) {
                 markedInactive.set(true);
                 primaryRef.get().flush(new FlushRequest());
             }
-        }, false);
+        });
         primaryRef.set(primary);
         recoverShardFromStore(primary);
         for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/blobstore/BlobStoreRepositoryRestoreTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/blobstore/BlobStoreRepositoryRestoreTests.java
index 3b5a6d1ee7bee..7a1d3a894204f 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/blobstore/BlobStoreRepositoryRestoreTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/blobstore/BlobStoreRepositoryRestoreTests.java
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ public void testRestoreSnapshotWithExistingFiles() throws IOException {
                     null,
                     new InternalEngineFactory(),
                     () -> {},
-                    EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, false);
+                    EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER);
 
             // restore the shard
             recoverShardFromSnapshot(shard, snapshot, repository);
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/ESIndexLevelReplicationTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/ESIndexLevelReplicationTestCase.java
index 2c7026a1ecd87..384acaf658290 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/ESIndexLevelReplicationTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/ESIndexLevelReplicationTestCase.java
@@ -265,8 +265,7 @@ public synchronized IndexShard addReplicaWithExistingPath(final ShardPath shardP
                 RecoverySource.PeerRecoverySource.INSTANCE);
 
             final IndexShard newReplica =
-                    newShard(shardRouting, shardPath, indexMetaData, null, getEngineFactory(shardRouting), () -> {},
-                        EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, false);
+                newShard(shardRouting, shardPath, indexMetaData, null, getEngineFactory(shardRouting), () -> {}, EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER);
             replicas.add(newReplica);
             updateAllocationIDsOnPrimary();
             return newReplica;
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTestCase.java
index 8144d39264654..7e0b6b21b3bce 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTestCase.java
@@ -159,13 +159,6 @@ protected void allowShardFailures() {
         failOnShardFailures.set(false);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * re-enables default behavior to fail tests when shards created by this class fail
-     */
-    protected void failOnShardFailures() {
-        failOnShardFailures.set(true);
-    }
-
     public Settings threadPoolSettings() {
         return Settings.EMPTY;
     }
@@ -292,7 +285,7 @@ protected IndexShard newShard(ShardRouting routing, IndexMetaData indexMetaData,
         final NodeEnvironment.NodePath nodePath = new NodeEnvironment.NodePath(createTempDir());
         ShardPath shardPath = new ShardPath(false, nodePath.resolve(shardId), nodePath.resolve(shardId), shardId);
         return newShard(routing, shardPath, indexMetaData, indexSearcherWrapper, engineFactory, globalCheckpointSyncer,
-            EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, false, listeners);
+            EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, listeners);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -303,15 +296,13 @@ protected IndexShard newShard(ShardRouting routing, IndexMetaData indexMetaData,
      * @param indexSearcherWrapper   an optional wrapper to be used during searchers
      * @param globalCheckpointSyncer callback for syncing global checkpoints
      * @param indexEventListener     index even listener
-     * @param ignoreShardFailures    true if shard failure should be ignored (otherwise an assertion will be thrown)
      * @param listeners              an optional set of listeners to add to the shard
      */
     protected IndexShard newShard(ShardRouting routing, ShardPath shardPath, IndexMetaData indexMetaData,
                                   @Nullable IndexSearcherWrapper indexSearcherWrapper,
                                   @Nullable EngineFactory engineFactory,
                                   Runnable globalCheckpointSyncer,
-                                  IndexEventListener indexEventListener, boolean ignoreShardFailures,
-                                  IndexingOperationListener... listeners) throws IOException {
+                                  IndexEventListener indexEventListener, IndexingOperationListener... listeners) throws IOException {
         final Settings nodeSettings = Settings.builder().put("node.name", routing.currentNodeId()).build();
         final IndexSettings indexSettings = new IndexSettings(indexMetaData, nodeSettings);
         final IndexShard indexShard;
@@ -368,7 +359,7 @@ protected IndexShard reinitShard(IndexShard current, ShardRouting routing, Index
                 null,
                 current.engineFactory,
                 current.getGlobalCheckpointSyncer(),
-            EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, false, listeners);
+            EMPTY_EVENT_LISTENER, listeners);
     }
 
     /**