diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/IndexRecoveryIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/IndexRecoveryIT.java
index c5bb2415d18a8..ef06caa297d56 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/IndexRecoveryIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/IndexRecoveryIT.java
@@ -815,7 +815,11 @@ public Settings onNodeStopped(String nodeName) {
      */
     public void testTargetThrottling() throws Exception {
         logger.info("--> starting node A with default settings");
-        final String nodeA = internalCluster().startNode();
+        final String nodeA = internalCluster().startNode(
+            Settings.builder()
+                // Use a high value so that when unthrottling recoveries we do not cause accidental throttling on the source node.
+                .put(RecoverySettings.INDICES_RECOVERY_MAX_BYTES_PER_SEC_SETTING.getKey(), "200mb")
+        );
 
         logger.info("--> creating index on node A");
         ByteSizeValue shardSize = createAndPopulateIndex(INDEX_NAME, 1, SHARD_COUNT, REPLICA_COUNT).getShards()[0].getStats()