diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchAction.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchAction.java
index f2f87f3d687a5..20ce1edfb4bcd 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchAction.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchAction.java
@@ -933,7 +933,8 @@ private void executeSearch(
                 localIndices,
                 searchRequest.getLocalClusterAlias(),
                 searchContext,
-                searchRequest.pointInTimeBuilder().getKeepAlive()
+                searchRequest.pointInTimeBuilder().getKeepAlive(),
+                searchRequest.allowPartialSearchResults()
             );
         } else {
             final Index[] indices = resolveLocalIndices(localIndices, clusterState, timeProvider);
@@ -1415,7 +1416,8 @@ static List<SearchShardIterator> getLocalLocalShardsIteratorFromPointInTime(
         OriginalIndices originalIndices,
         String localClusterAlias,
         SearchContextId searchContext,
-        TimeValue keepAlive
+        TimeValue keepAlive,
+        boolean allowPartialSearchResults
     ) {
         final List<SearchShardIterator> iterators = new ArrayList<>(searchContext.shards().size());
         for (Map.Entry<ShardId, SearchContextIdForNode> entry : searchContext.shards().entrySet()) {
@@ -1427,17 +1429,21 @@ static List<SearchShardIterator> getLocalLocalShardsIteratorFromPointInTime(
                 if (clusterState.nodes().nodeExists(perNode.getNode())) {
                     targetNodes.add(perNode.getNode());
                 }
-                if (perNode.getSearchContextId().getSearcherId() != null) {
-                    try {
-                        final ShardIterator shards = OperationRouting.getShards(clusterState, shardId);
+                try {
+                    final ShardIterator shards = OperationRouting.getShards(clusterState, shardId);
+                    if (perNode.getSearchContextId().getSearcherId() != null) {
                         for (ShardRouting shard : shards) {
                             if (shard.currentNodeId().equals(perNode.getNode()) == false) {
                                 targetNodes.add(shard.currentNodeId());
                             }
                         }
-                    } catch (IndexNotFoundException | ShardNotFoundException ignored) {
-                        // We can hit these exceptions if the index was deleted after creating PIT or the cluster state on
-                        // this coordinating node is outdated. It's fine to ignore these extra "retry-able" target shards.
+                    }
+                } catch (IndexNotFoundException | ShardNotFoundException e) {
+                    // We can hit these exceptions if the index was deleted after creating PIT or the cluster state on
+                    // this coordinating node is outdated. It's fine to ignore these extra "retry-able" target shards
+                    // when allowPartialSearchResults is false
+                    if (allowPartialSearchResults == false) {
+                        throw e;
                     }
                 }
                 OriginalIndices finalIndices = new OriginalIndices(
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchActionTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchActionTests.java
index 498f9d7d19264..68f9162d615c6 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchActionTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/TransportSearchActionTests.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.core.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Tuple;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.Index;
+import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexNotFoundException;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.InnerHitBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.MatchAllQueryBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders;
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
@@ -1292,7 +1294,8 @@ public void testLocalShardIteratorFromPointInTime() {
             OriginalIndices.NONE,
             null,
             new SearchContextId(contexts, aliasFilterMap),
-            keepAlive
+            keepAlive,
+            randomBoolean()
         );
         shardIterators.sort(Comparator.comparing(SearchShardIterator::shardId));
         assertThat(shardIterators, hasSize(numberOfShards));
@@ -1319,5 +1322,38 @@ public void testLocalShardIteratorFromPointInTime() {
             assertThat(shardIterator.getSearchContextId(), equalTo(context.getSearchContextId()));
             assertThat(shardIterator.getSearchContextKeepAlive(), equalTo(keepAlive));
         }
+
+        // Fails when some indices don't exist and `allowPartialSearchResults` is false.
+        ShardId anotherShardId = new ShardId(new Index("another-index", IndexMetadata.INDEX_UUID_NA_VALUE), randomIntBetween(0, 10));
+        contexts.put(
+            anotherShardId,
+            new SearchContextIdForNode(
+                null,
+                randomFrom(clusterState.nodes().getAllNodes()).getId(),
+                new ShardSearchContextId(UUIDs.randomBase64UUID(), randomNonNegativeLong(), null)
+            )
+        );
+        IndexNotFoundException error = expectThrows(IndexNotFoundException.class, () -> {
+            TransportSearchAction.getLocalLocalShardsIteratorFromPointInTime(
+                clusterState,
+                OriginalIndices.NONE,
+                null,
+                new SearchContextId(contexts, aliasFilterMap),
+                keepAlive,
+                false
+            );
+        });
+        assertThat(error.getIndex().getName(), equalTo("another-index"));
+        // Ok when some indices don't exist and `allowPartialSearchResults` is true.
+        Optional<SearchShardIterator> anotherShardIterator = TransportSearchAction.getLocalLocalShardsIteratorFromPointInTime(
+            clusterState,
+            OriginalIndices.NONE,
+            null,
+            new SearchContextId(contexts, aliasFilterMap),
+            keepAlive,
+            true
+        ).stream().filter(si -> si.shardId().equals(anotherShardId)).findFirst();
+        assertTrue(anotherShardIterator.isPresent());
+        assertThat(anotherShardIterator.get().getTargetNodeIds(), hasSize(1));
     }
 }