diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/DefaultSearchContext.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/DefaultSearchContext.java
index 6a643baadd165..983132ac9061a 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/DefaultSearchContext.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/DefaultSearchContext.java
@@ -21,11 +21,13 @@
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.TotalHits;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.NumericUtils;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchType;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.IndexRouting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.breaker.CircuitBreaker;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.search.Queries;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Nullable;
+import org.elasticsearch.core.Releasables;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexMode;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexService;
@@ -212,7 +214,7 @@ final class DefaultSearchContext extends SearchContext {
                     minimumDocsPerSlice
                 );
             }
-            releasables.addAll(List.of(engineSearcher, searcher));
+            closeFuture.addListener(ActionListener.releasing(Releasables.wrap(engineSearcher, searcher)));
             this.relativeTimeSupplier = relativeTimeSupplier;
             this.timeout = timeout;
             searchExecutionContext = indexService.newSearchExecutionContext(
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/SearchContext.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/SearchContext.java
index d5e26b9c91a8d..9b1df285cd11c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/SearchContext.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/SearchContext.java
@@ -11,12 +11,13 @@
 import org.apache.lucene.search.FieldDoc;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.TotalHits;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchType;
+import org.elasticsearch.action.support.SubscribableListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.breaker.CircuitBreaker;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Assertions;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.Releasable;
-import org.elasticsearch.core.Releasables;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.cache.bitset.BitsetFilterCache;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.IdLoader;
@@ -56,8 +57,6 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 
 /**
  * This class encapsulates the state needed to execute a search. It holds a reference to the
@@ -71,13 +70,16 @@ public abstract class SearchContext implements Releasable {
     public static final int TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_DISABLED = -1;
     public static final int DEFAULT_TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_UP_TO = 10000;
 
-    protected final List<Releasable> releasables = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
-
-    private final AtomicBoolean closed = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+    protected final SubscribableListener<Void> closeFuture = new SubscribableListener<>();
 
     {
         if (Assertions.ENABLED) {
-            releasables.add(LeakTracker.wrap(() -> { assert closed.get(); }));
+            closeFuture.addListener(ActionListener.releasing(LeakTracker.wrap(new Releasable() {
+                @Override
+                public void close() {
+                    // empty instance that will actually get GC'ed so that the leak tracker works
+                }
+            })));
         }
     }
     private InnerHitsContext innerHitsContext;
@@ -109,9 +111,7 @@ public final List<Runnable> getCancellationChecks() {
 
     @Override
     public final void close() {
-        if (closed.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
-            Releasables.close(releasables);
-        }
+        closeFuture.onResponse(null);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -399,8 +399,8 @@ public final boolean checkRealMemoryCB(int locallyAccumulatedBytes, String label
      * Adds a releasable that will be freed when this context is closed.
      */
     public void addReleasable(Releasable releasable) {   // TODO most Releasables are managed by their callers. We probably don't need this.
-        assert closed.get() == false;
-        releasables.add(releasable);
+        assert closeFuture.isDone() == false;
+        closeFuture.addListener(ActionListener.releasing(releasable));
     }
 
     /**