diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/integration/ModelRegistryIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/integration/ModelRegistryIT.java
index 67d67183a37e3..4f53559dbba02 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/integration/ModelRegistryIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/integration/ModelRegistryIT.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.integration;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchStatusException;
+import org.elasticsearch.ResourceAlreadyExistsException;
 import org.elasticsearch.ResourceNotFoundException;
 import org.elasticsearch.TransportVersion;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
@@ -906,7 +907,7 @@ public void testStoreModel_ThrowsException_WhenFailureIsAVersionConflict() {
         var model = TestModel.createRandomInstance();
         assertStoreModel(modelRegistry, model);
 
-        var exception = expectThrows(ElasticsearchStatusException.class, () -> assertStoreModel(modelRegistry, model));
+        var exception = expectThrows(ResourceAlreadyExistsException.class, () -> assertStoreModel(modelRegistry, model));
         assertThat(exception.status(), Matchers.is(RestStatus.BAD_REQUEST));
         assertThat(
             exception.getMessage(),
@@ -941,7 +942,7 @@ public void testStoreModel_DoesNotDeleteIndexDocs_WhenModelAlreadyExists() {
         PlainActionFuture<Boolean> secondStoreListener = new PlainActionFuture<>();
         modelRegistry.storeModel(model, secondStoreListener, TimeValue.THIRTY_SECONDS);
 
-        var exception = expectThrows(ElasticsearchStatusException.class, () -> secondStoreListener.actionGet(TimeValue.THIRTY_SECONDS));
+        var exception = expectThrows(ResourceAlreadyExistsException.class, () -> secondStoreListener.actionGet(TimeValue.THIRTY_SECONDS));
         assertThat(exception.getMessage(), containsString("already exists"));
         assertThat(exception.status(), Matchers.is(RestStatus.BAD_REQUEST));
         assertIndicesContainExpectedDocsCount(model, 2);
@@ -964,7 +965,7 @@ private void storeCorruptedModelThenStoreModel(boolean storeSecrets) {
         PlainActionFuture<Boolean> storeListener = new PlainActionFuture<>();
         modelRegistry.storeModel(model, storeListener, TimeValue.THIRTY_SECONDS);
 
-        var exception = expectThrows(ElasticsearchStatusException.class, () -> storeListener.actionGet(TimeValue.THIRTY_SECONDS));
+        var exception = expectThrows(ResourceAlreadyExistsException.class, () -> storeListener.actionGet(TimeValue.THIRTY_SECONDS));
         assertThat(exception.getMessage(), containsString("already exists"));
         assertThat(exception.status(), Matchers.is(RestStatus.BAD_REQUEST));
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/registry/ModelRegistry.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/registry/ModelRegistry.java
index e556b1db9ecd8..66d8db95fd267 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/registry/ModelRegistry.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/registry/ModelRegistry.java
@@ -670,14 +670,7 @@ private void storeModel(Model model, boolean updateClusterState, ActionListener<
 
             var failureItem = firstFailureResponse.get();
             if (ExceptionsHelper.unwrapCause(failureItem.failureCause()) instanceof VersionConflictEngineException) {
-                delegate.onFailure(
-                    new ElasticsearchStatusException(
-                        "Inference endpoint [{}] already exists",
-                        RestStatus.BAD_REQUEST,
-                        failureItem.failureCause(),
-                        failureItem.inferenceId()
-                    )
-                );
+                delegate.onFailure(new ResourceAlreadyExistsException("Inference endpoint [{}] already exists", failureItem.inferenceId()));
                 return;
             }