diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListener.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListener.java
index a158669d936fe..d50973f3801b6 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListener.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListener.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 
+import static org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListenerImplementations.checkedRunnableFromReleasable;
 import static org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListenerImplementations.runnableFromReleasable;
 import static org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListenerImplementations.safeAcceptException;
 import static org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListenerImplementations.safeOnFailure;
@@ -335,6 +336,16 @@ static <Response> ActionListener<Response> runBefore(ActionListener<Response> de
         return assertOnce(new ActionListenerImplementations.RunBeforeActionListener<>(delegate, runBefore));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Wraps a given listener and returns a new listener which releases the provided {@code releaseBefore}
+     * resource before the listener is notified via either {@code #onResponse} or {@code #onFailure}.
+     */
+    static <Response> ActionListener<Response> releaseBefore(Releasable releaseBefore, ActionListener<Response> delegate) {
+        return assertOnce(
+            new ActionListenerImplementations.RunBeforeActionListener<>(delegate, checkedRunnableFromReleasable(releaseBefore))
+        );
+    }
+
     /**
      * Wraps a given listener and returns a new listener which makes sure {@link #onResponse(Object)}
      * and {@link #onFailure(Exception)} of the provided listener will be called at most once.
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListenerImplementations.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListenerImplementations.java
index 00cbe475f162e..c00f22f9e5f36 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListenerImplementations.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListenerImplementations.java
@@ -58,6 +58,20 @@ public String toString() {
         };
     }
 
+    static CheckedRunnable<Exception> checkedRunnableFromReleasable(Releasable releasable) {
+        return new CheckedRunnable<>() {
+            @Override
+            public void run() {
+                Releasables.closeExpectNoException(releasable);
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public String toString() {
+                return "release[" + releasable + "]";
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
     static void safeAcceptException(Consumer<Exception> consumer, Exception e) {
         assert e != null;
         try {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListenerTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListenerTests.java
index bb785b2b6093a..50b8c860109d6 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListenerTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/ActionListenerTests.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+import java.util.function.BiFunction;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
@@ -610,16 +611,26 @@ public String toString() {
         );
     }
 
+    public void testReleaseBefore() {
+        runReleaseListenerTest(true, false, (delegate, releasable) -> ActionListener.releaseBefore(releasable, delegate));
+        runReleaseListenerTest(true, true, (delegate, releasable) -> ActionListener.releaseBefore(releasable, delegate));
+        runReleaseListenerTest(false, false, (delegate, releasable) -> ActionListener.releaseBefore(releasable, delegate));
+    }
+
     public void testReleaseAfter() {
-        runReleaseAfterTest(true, false);
-        runReleaseAfterTest(true, true);
-        runReleaseAfterTest(false, false);
+        runReleaseListenerTest(true, false, ActionListener::releaseAfter);
+        runReleaseListenerTest(true, true, ActionListener::releaseAfter);
+        runReleaseListenerTest(false, false, ActionListener::releaseAfter);
     }
 
-    private static void runReleaseAfterTest(boolean successResponse, final boolean throwFromOnResponse) {
+    private static void runReleaseListenerTest(
+        boolean successResponse,
+        final boolean throwFromOnResponse,
+        BiFunction<ActionListener<Void>, Releasable, ActionListener<Void>> releaseListenerProvider
+    ) {
         final AtomicBoolean released = new AtomicBoolean();
         final String description = randomAlphaOfLength(10);
-        final ActionListener<Void> l = ActionListener.releaseAfter(new ActionListener<>() {
+        final ActionListener<Void> l = releaseListenerProvider.apply(new ActionListener<>() {
             @Override
             public void onResponse(Void unused) {
                 if (throwFromOnResponse) {