diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/XPackPlugin.java b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/XPackPlugin.java
index d8503033ef3a9..bcbda55977920 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/XPackPlugin.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/XPackPlugin.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterState;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexNameExpressionResolver;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.Metadata;
+import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.ProjectMetadata;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.node.DiscoveryNode;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.node.DiscoveryNodes;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.allocation.DataTier;
@@ -296,11 +297,15 @@ public static List<DiscoveryNode> nodesNotReadyForXPackCustomMetadata(ClusterSta
     private static boolean alreadyContainsXPackCustomMetadata(ClusterState clusterState) {
         final Metadata metadata = clusterState.metadata();
         return metadata.custom(LicensesMetadata.TYPE) != null
-            || metadata.getProject().custom(MlMetadata.TYPE) != null
-            || metadata.getProject().custom(WatcherMetadata.TYPE) != null
-            || RoleMappingMetadata.getFromClusterState(clusterState).isEmpty() == false
             || clusterState.custom(TokenMetadata.TYPE) != null
-            || metadata.getProject().custom(TransformMetadata.TYPE) != null;
+            || metadata.projects().values().stream().anyMatch(XPackPlugin::alreadyContainsXPackCustomMetadata);
+    }
+
+    private static boolean alreadyContainsXPackCustomMetadata(ProjectMetadata project) {
+        return project.custom(MlMetadata.TYPE) != null
+            || project.custom(WatcherMetadata.TYPE) != null
+            || RoleMappingMetadata.getFromProject(project).isEmpty() == false
+            || project.custom(TransformMetadata.TYPE) != null;
     }
 
     @Override