diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesService.java
index 1b4fc3a314925..2f1583c609514 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/RepositoriesService.java
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ public RepositoriesService(Settings settings, ClusterService clusterService, Tra
         // Doesn't make sense to maintain repositories on non-master and non-data nodes
         // Nothing happens there anyway
         if (DiscoveryNode.isDataNode(settings) || DiscoveryNode.isMasterNode(settings)) {
-            clusterService.addStateApplier(this);
+            clusterService.addHighPriorityApplier(this);
         }
         this.verifyAction = new VerifyNodeRepositoryAction(transportService, clusterService, this);
     }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/searchable-snapshots/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/searchablesnapshots/ClusterStateApplierOrderingTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/searchable-snapshots/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/searchablesnapshots/ClusterStateApplierOrderingTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b296a2bf561fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/searchable-snapshots/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/searchablesnapshots/ClusterStateApplierOrderingTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License;
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License.
+ */
+
+package org.elasticsearch.xpack.searchablesnapshots;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.snapshots.create.CreateSnapshotResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.snapshots.restore.RestoreSnapshotResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequestBuilder;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.RoutingNode;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardRouting;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.UnassignedInfo;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
+import org.elasticsearch.snapshots.SnapshotInfo;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.InternalTestCluster;
+import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.searchablesnapshots.MountSearchableSnapshotAction;
+import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.searchablesnapshots.MountSearchableSnapshotRequest;
+
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.UnassignedInfo.Reason.ALLOCATION_FAILED;
+import static org.elasticsearch.gateway.GatewayService.RECOVER_AFTER_DATA_NODES_SETTING;
+import static org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING;
+import static org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase.Scope.TEST;
+import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertAcked;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.greaterThan;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+
+@ESIntegTestCase.ClusterScope(scope = TEST, numDataNodes = 0, autoManageMasterNodes = false)
+public class ClusterStateApplierOrderingTests extends BaseSearchableSnapshotsIntegTestCase {
+
+    public void testRepositoriesServiceClusterStateApplierIsCalledBeforeIndicesClusterStateService() throws Exception {
+        internalCluster().setBootstrapMasterNodeIndex(0);
+        internalCluster().startNodes(2);
+        final String fsRepoName = "fsrepo";
+        final String indexName = "test-index";
+        final String restoredIndexName = "restored-index";
+
+        final Path repo = randomRepoPath();
+        assertAcked(
+            client().admin().cluster().preparePutRepository(fsRepoName).setType("fs").setSettings(Settings.builder().put("location", repo))
+        );
+
+        // Peer recovery always copies .liv files but we do not permit writing to searchable snapshot directories so this doesn't work, but
+        // we can bypass this by forcing soft deletes to be used. TODO this restriction can be lifted when #55142 is resolved.
+        assertAcked(prepareCreate(indexName, Settings.builder().put(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), true)));
+
+        final List<IndexRequestBuilder> indexRequestBuilders = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (int i = between(10, 10_000); i >= 0; i--) {
+            indexRequestBuilders.add(client().prepareIndex(indexName, "_doc").setSource("foo", randomBoolean() ? "bar" : "baz"));
+        }
+        indexRandom(true, true, indexRequestBuilders);
+        refresh(indexName);
+
+        CreateSnapshotResponse createSnapshotResponse = client().admin()
+            .cluster()
+            .prepareCreateSnapshot(fsRepoName, "snapshot")
+            .setWaitForCompletion(true)
+            .get();
+        final SnapshotInfo snapshotInfo = createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo();
+        assertThat(snapshotInfo.successfulShards(), greaterThan(0));
+        assertThat(snapshotInfo.successfulShards(), equalTo(snapshotInfo.totalShards()));
+
+        assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareDelete(indexName));
+
+        Settings.Builder indexSettingsBuilder = Settings.builder()
+            .put(SearchableSnapshots.SNAPSHOT_CACHE_ENABLED_SETTING.getKey(), false)
+            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_CHECK_ON_STARTUP.getKey(), Boolean.FALSE.toString())
+            .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0);
+
+        final MountSearchableSnapshotRequest req = new MountSearchableSnapshotRequest(
+            restoredIndexName,
+            fsRepoName,
+            snapshotInfo.snapshotId().getName(),
+            indexName,
+            indexSettingsBuilder.build(),
+            Strings.EMPTY_ARRAY,
+            true
+        );
+
+        final RestoreSnapshotResponse restoreSnapshotResponse = client().execute(MountSearchableSnapshotAction.INSTANCE, req).get();
+        assertThat(restoreSnapshotResponse.getRestoreInfo().failedShards(), equalTo(0));
+        ensureGreen(restoredIndexName);
+
+        // In order to reproduce this issue we need to force a full cluster restart so the new elected master
+        // sends the entire ClusterState in one message, including assigned shards and repositories.
+        internalCluster().fullRestart(new InternalTestCluster.RestartCallback() {
+            @Override
+            public Settings onNodeStopped(String nodeName) {
+                // make sure state is not recovered until a third node joins
+                return Settings.builder().put(RECOVER_AFTER_DATA_NODES_SETTING.getKey(), 3).build();
+            }
+        });
+
+        List<UnassignedInfo.Reason> unassignedReasons = new ArrayList<>();
+        internalCluster().clusterService().addListener(event -> {
+            if (event.routingTableChanged()) {
+                for (RoutingNode routingNode : event.state().getRoutingNodes()) {
+                    for (ShardRouting shardRouting : routingNode) {
+                        if (shardRouting.unassignedInfo() != null) {
+                            unassignedReasons.add(shardRouting.unassignedInfo().getReason());
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
+        internalCluster().ensureAtLeastNumDataNodes(3);
+
+        ensureGreen(restoredIndexName);
+        assertThat("Unexpected shard allocation failure", unassignedReasons.stream().noneMatch(r -> r == ALLOCATION_FAILED), is(true));
+    }
+}