diff --git a/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/AbstractIndexCompatibilityTestCase.java b/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/AbstractIndexCompatibilityTestCase.java
index 392f2037139a3..6078194ef180f 100644
--- a/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/AbstractIndexCompatibilityTestCase.java
+++ b/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/AbstractIndexCompatibilityTestCase.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.core.Booleans;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.MapperService;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.XContentTestUtils;
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.stream.IntStream;
 
+import static org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.MetadataIndexStateService.VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.cluster.util.Version.CURRENT;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.cluster.util.Version.fromString;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.rest.ObjectPath.createFromResponse;
@@ -259,13 +261,24 @@ protected static boolean isIndexClosed(String indexName) throws Exception {
         return IndexMetadata.State.fromString((String) state) == IndexMetadata.State.CLOSE;
     }
 
-    protected static void addIndexWriteBlock(String indexName) throws Exception {
-        assertAcknowledged(client().performRequest(new Request("PUT", Strings.format("/%s/_block/write", indexName))));
-    }
-
     protected static void forceMerge(String indexName, int maxNumSegments) throws Exception {
         var request = new Request("POST", '/' + indexName + "/_forcemerge");
         request.addParameter("max_num_segments", String.valueOf(maxNumSegments));
         assertOK(client().performRequest(request));
     }
+
+    protected static void markAsReadOnly(String indexName) throws Exception {
+        var block = randomFrom(IndexMetadata.APIBlock.READ_ONLY, IndexMetadata.APIBlock.WRITE);
+        var request = new Request("PUT", Strings.format("/%s/_block/%s", indexName, block.name().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT)));
+        assertAcknowledged(client().performRequest(request));
+    }
+
+    protected void assertMarkedAsReadOnly(String indexName) throws Exception {
+        var indexSettings = getIndexSettingsAsMap(indexName);
+        assertThat(indexSettings.get(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey()), equalTo(Boolean.TRUE.toString()));
+
+        boolean readOnly = Booleans.parseBoolean((String) indexSettings.get(IndexMetadata.APIBlock.READ_ONLY.settingName()), false);
+        boolean write = Booleans.parseBoolean((String) indexSettings.get(IndexMetadata.APIBlock.WRITE.settingName()), false);
+        assertThat("Expect either `read_only` [" + readOnly + "] or `write` [" + write + "] block", readOnly ^ write, is(true));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/FullClusterRestartLuceneIndexCompatibilityIT.java b/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/FullClusterRestartLuceneIndexCompatibilityIT.java
index 89fefde08b9a4..8456d586f493c 100644
--- a/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/FullClusterRestartLuceneIndexCompatibilityIT.java
+++ b/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/FullClusterRestartLuceneIndexCompatibilityIT.java
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.repositories.fs.FsRepository;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.cluster.util.Version;
 
-import static org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.MetadataIndexStateService.VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 
 public class FullClusterRestartLuceneIndexCompatibilityIT extends FullClusterRestartIndexCompatibilityTestCase {
@@ -58,14 +57,8 @@ public void testIndexUpgrade() throws Exception {
             assertThat(indexVersion(index), equalTo(VERSION_MINUS_2));
             assertDocCount(client(), index, numDocs);
 
-            logger.debug("--> flushing [{}]", index);
-            flush(index, true);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying write block on [{}]", index);
-            addIndexWriteBlock(index);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying verified read-only setting on [{}]", index);
-            updateIndexSettings(index, Settings.builder().put(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey(), true));
+            logger.debug("--> marking index [{}] as read-only", index);
+            markAsReadOnly(index);
             return;
         }
 
@@ -75,9 +68,7 @@ public void testIndexUpgrade() throws Exception {
             assertThat(indexVersion(index), equalTo(VERSION_MINUS_2));
             assertDocCount(client(), index, numDocs);
 
-            var indexSettings = getIndexSettingsAsMap(index);
-            assertThat(indexSettings.get(IndexMetadata.APIBlock.WRITE.settingName()), equalTo(Boolean.TRUE.toString()));
-            assertThat(indexSettings.get(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey()), equalTo(Boolean.TRUE.toString()));
+            assertMarkedAsReadOnly(index);
 
             var numberOfReplicas = getNumberOfReplicas(index);
             if (0 < numberOfReplicas) {
@@ -146,14 +137,8 @@ public void testRestoreIndex() throws Exception {
             assertThat(indexVersion(index), equalTo(VERSION_MINUS_2));
             assertDocCount(client(), index, numDocs);
 
-            logger.debug("--> flushing [{}]", index);
-            flush(index, true);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying write block on [{}]", index);
-            addIndexWriteBlock(index);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying verified read-only setting on [{}]", index);
-            updateIndexSettings(index, Settings.builder().put(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey(), true));
+            logger.debug("--> marking index [{}] as read-only", index);
+            markAsReadOnly(index);
 
             logger.debug("--> creating snapshot [{}]", snapshot);
             createSnapshot(client(), repository, snapshot, true);
@@ -169,6 +154,7 @@ public void testRestoreIndex() throws Exception {
             restoreIndex(repository, snapshot, index, restoredIndex);
             ensureGreen(restoredIndex);
 
+            assertMarkedAsReadOnly(restoredIndex);
             assertThat(indexVersion(restoredIndex), equalTo(VERSION_MINUS_2));
             assertDocCount(client(), restoredIndex, numDocs);
 
@@ -233,14 +219,8 @@ public void testRestoreIndexOverClosedIndex() throws Exception {
             assertThat(indexVersion(index), equalTo(VERSION_MINUS_2));
             assertDocCount(client(), index, numDocs);
 
-            logger.debug("--> flushing [{}]", index);
-            flush(index, true);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying write block on [{}]", index);
-            addIndexWriteBlock(index);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying verified read-only setting on [{}]", index);
-            updateIndexSettings(index, Settings.builder().put(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey(), true));
+            logger.debug("--> marking index [{}] as read-only", index);
+            markAsReadOnly(index);
 
             logger.debug("--> creating snapshot [{}]", snapshot);
             createSnapshot(client(), repository, snapshot, true);
@@ -255,10 +235,8 @@ public void testRestoreIndexOverClosedIndex() throws Exception {
         }
 
         if (isFullyUpgradedTo(VERSION_CURRENT)) {
-            var indexSettings = getIndexSettingsAsMap(index);
-            assertThat(indexSettings.get(IndexMetadata.APIBlock.WRITE.settingName()), equalTo(Boolean.TRUE.toString()));
-            assertThat(indexSettings.get(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey()), equalTo(Boolean.TRUE.toString()));
             assertThat(isIndexClosed(index), equalTo(true));
+            assertMarkedAsReadOnly(index);
 
             logger.debug("--> restoring index [{}] over existing closed index", index);
             restoreIndex(repository, snapshot, index, index);
diff --git a/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/RollingUpgradeLuceneIndexCompatibilityTestCase.java b/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/RollingUpgradeLuceneIndexCompatibilityTestCase.java
index c183ccc39cdea..621028ed87bc6 100644
--- a/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/RollingUpgradeLuceneIndexCompatibilityTestCase.java
+++ b/qa/lucene-index-compatibility/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/lucene/RollingUpgradeLuceneIndexCompatibilityTestCase.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 import java.util.List;
 
-import static org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.MetadataIndexStateService.VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 
 public class RollingUpgradeLuceneIndexCompatibilityTestCase extends RollingUpgradeIndexCompatibilityTestCase {
@@ -62,21 +61,14 @@ public void testIndexUpgrade() throws Exception {
             assertThat(indexVersion(index), equalTo(VERSION_MINUS_2));
             assertDocCount(client(), index, numDocs);
 
-            logger.debug("--> flushing [{}]", index);
-            flush(index, true);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying write block on [{}]", index);
-            addIndexWriteBlock(index);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying verified read-only setting on [{}]", index);
-            updateIndexSettings(index, Settings.builder().put(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey(), true));
+            logger.debug("--> marking index [{}] as read-only", index);
+            markAsReadOnly(index);
             return;
         }
 
         if (nodesVersions().values().stream().anyMatch(v -> v.onOrAfter(VERSION_CURRENT))) {
             var indexSettings = getIndexSettingsAsMap(index);
-            assertThat(indexSettings.get(IndexMetadata.APIBlock.WRITE.settingName()), equalTo(Boolean.TRUE.toString()));
-            assertThat(indexSettings.get(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey()), equalTo(Boolean.TRUE.toString()));
+            assertMarkedAsReadOnly(index);
 
             if (isIndexClosed(index)) {
                 logger.debug("--> re-opening index [{}] after upgrade", index);
@@ -133,14 +125,8 @@ public void testRestoreIndex() throws Exception {
             assertThat(indexVersion(index), equalTo(VERSION_MINUS_2));
             assertDocCount(client(), index, numDocs);
 
-            logger.debug("--> flushing [{}]", index);
-            flush(index, true);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying write block on [{}]", index);
-            addIndexWriteBlock(index);
-
-            logger.debug("--> applying verified read-only setting on [{}]", index);
-            updateIndexSettings(index, Settings.builder().put(VERIFIED_READ_ONLY_SETTING.getKey(), true));
+            logger.debug("--> marking index [{}] as read-only", index);
+            markAsReadOnly(index);
 
             logger.debug("--> creating snapshot [{}]", snapshot);
             createSnapshot(client(), repository, snapshot, true);
@@ -158,6 +144,7 @@ public void testRestoreIndex() throws Exception {
                 restoreIndex(repository, snapshot, index, restoredIndex);
                 ensureGreen(restoredIndex);
 
+                assertMarkedAsReadOnly(restoredIndex);
                 assertThat(indexVersion(restoredIndex), equalTo(VERSION_MINUS_2));
                 assertDocCount(client(), restoredIndex, numDocs);