diff --git a/src/legacy/ui/public/courier/search_strategy/default_search_strategy.js b/src/legacy/ui/public/courier/search_strategy/default_search_strategy.js
index 7d9865c137e62a..42a9b641364542 100644
--- a/src/legacy/ui/public/courier/search_strategy/default_search_strategy.js
+++ b/src/legacy/ui/public/courier/search_strategy/default_search_strategy.js
@@ -66,10 +66,9 @@ function search({ searchRequests, es, config, esShardTimeout }) {
   const abortController = new AbortController();
   const searchParams = getSearchParams(config, esShardTimeout);
   const promises = searchRequests.map(({ index, body }) => {
-    const searching = es.search({ index: index.title || index, body, ...searchParams })
-      .catch(({ response }) => JSON.parse(response));
+    const searching = es.search({ index: index.title || index, body, ...searchParams });
     abortController.signal.addEventListener('abort', searching.abort);
-    return searching;
+    return searching.catch(({ response }) => JSON.parse(response));
   });
   return {
     searching: Promise.all(promises),
diff --git a/src/legacy/ui/public/courier/search_strategy/default_search_strategy.test.js b/src/legacy/ui/public/courier/search_strategy/default_search_strategy.test.js
index 953ca4fe800f1f..a1ea53e8b5b477 100644
--- a/src/legacy/ui/public/courier/search_strategy/default_search_strategy.test.js
+++ b/src/legacy/ui/public/courier/search_strategy/default_search_strategy.test.js
@@ -27,16 +27,29 @@ function getConfigStub(config = {}) {
   };
 }
 
+const msearchMockResponse = Promise.resolve([]);
+msearchMockResponse.abort = jest.fn();
+const msearchMock = jest.fn().mockReturnValue(msearchMockResponse);
+
+const searchMockResponse = Promise.resolve([]);
+searchMockResponse.abort = jest.fn();
+const searchMock = jest.fn().mockReturnValue(searchMockResponse);
+
 describe('defaultSearchStrategy', function () {
   describe('search', function () {
     let searchArgs;
 
     beforeEach(() => {
-      const msearchMock = jest.fn().mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve([]));
-      const searchMock = jest.fn().mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve([]));
+      msearchMockResponse.abort.mockClear();
+      msearchMock.mockClear();
+
+      searchMockResponse.abort.mockClear();
+      searchMock.mockClear();
 
       searchArgs = {
-        searchRequests: [],
+        searchRequests: [{
+          index: { title: 'foo' }
+        }],
         es: {
           msearch: msearchMock,
           search: searchMock,
@@ -73,5 +86,21 @@ describe('defaultSearchStrategy', function () {
       await search(searchArgs);
       expect(searchArgs.es.msearch.mock.calls[0][0]).toHaveProperty('ignore_throttled', false);
     });
+
+    test('should properly call abort with msearch', () => {
+      searchArgs.config = getConfigStub({
+        'courier:batchSearches': true
+      });
+      search(searchArgs).abort();
+      expect(msearchMockResponse.abort).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    test('should properly abort with search', async () => {
+      searchArgs.config = getConfigStub({
+        'courier:batchSearches': false
+      });
+      search(searchArgs).abort();
+      expect(searchMockResponse.abort).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
   });
 });