diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/indices/replication/SegmentReplicationTarget.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/indices/replication/SegmentReplicationTarget.java
index 73a33a3c8803e..cc71ef816e525 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/indices/replication/SegmentReplicationTarget.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/indices/replication/SegmentReplicationTarget.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 import org.opensearch.indices.replication.common.ReplicationTarget;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -194,13 +195,7 @@ private List<StoreFileMetadata> getFiles(CheckpointInfoResponse checkpointInfo)
         // set of local files that can be reused
         final Set<String> reuseFiles = diff.missing.stream()
             .filter(storeFileMetadata -> localFiles.contains(storeFileMetadata.name()))
-            .filter((storeFileMetadata) -> {
-                try {
-                    return validateLocalChecksum(storeFileMetadata);
-                } catch (IOException e) {
-                    throw new RuntimeException(e);
-                }
-            })
+            .filter(this::validateLocalChecksum)
             .map(StoreFileMetadata::name)
             .collect(Collectors.toSet());
 
@@ -237,7 +232,8 @@ private List<StoreFileMetadata> getFiles(CheckpointInfoResponse checkpointInfo)
         return missingFiles;
     }
 
-    private boolean validateLocalChecksum(StoreFileMetadata file) throws IOException {
+    // pkg private for tests
+    private boolean validateLocalChecksum(StoreFileMetadata file) {
         try (IndexInput indexInput = indexShard.store().directory().openInput(file.name(), IOContext.DEFAULT)) {
             String checksum = Store.digestToString(CodecUtil.retrieveChecksum(indexInput));
             if (file.checksum().equals(checksum)) {
@@ -251,7 +247,11 @@ private boolean validateLocalChecksum(StoreFileMetadata file) throws IOException
             logger.warn("Error reading " + file, e);
             // Delete file on exceptions so that it can be re-downloaded. This is safe to do as this file is local only
             // and not referenced by reader.
-            indexShard.store().directory().deleteFile(file.name());
+            try {
+                indexShard.store().directory().deleteFile(file.name());
+            } catch (IOException ex) {
+                throw new UncheckedIOException("Error reading " + file, e);
+            }
             return false;
         }
     }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/shard/RemoteIndexShardTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/shard/RemoteIndexShardTests.java
index e9bf4122d6195..2ce0bdc607189 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/shard/RemoteIndexShardTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/shard/RemoteIndexShardTests.java
@@ -386,6 +386,7 @@ public void testSegRepSucceedsOnPreviousCopiedFiles() throws Exception {
                 new SegmentReplicationTargetService.SegmentReplicationListener() {
                     @Override
                     public void onReplicationDone(SegmentReplicationState state) {
+                        latch.countDown();
                         Assert.fail("Replication should fail with simulated error");
                     }
 
@@ -395,9 +396,9 @@ public void onReplicationFailure(
                         ReplicationFailedException e,
                         boolean sendShardFailure
                     ) {
+                        latch.countDown();
                         assertFalse(sendShardFailure);
                         logger.error("Replication error", e);
-                        latch.countDown();
                     }
                 }
             );
@@ -431,9 +432,9 @@ public void onReplicationFailure(
                         ReplicationFailedException e,
                         boolean sendShardFailure
                     ) {
+                        waitForSecondRound.countDown();
                         logger.error("Replication error", e);
                         Assert.fail("Replication should not fail");
-                        waitForSecondRound.countDown();
                     }
                 }
             );
@@ -447,10 +448,10 @@ public void onReplicationFailure(
     }
 
     /**
-     * This test validates that local non-readable (partially written, corrupt) on disk are deleted vs failing the
+     * This test validates that local non-readable (corrupt, partially) on disk are deleted vs failing the
      * replication event. This test mimics local files (not referenced by reader) by throwing exception post file copy and
      * blocking update of reader. Once this is done, it corrupts one segment file and ensure that file is deleted in next
-     * round of segment replication goes through without any issues.
+     * round of segment replication by ensuring doc count.
      */
     public void testNoFailuresOnFileReads() throws Exception {
         try (ReplicationGroup shards = createGroup(1, getIndexSettings(), new NRTReplicationEngineFactory())) {
@@ -464,22 +465,21 @@ public void testNoFailuresOnFileReads() throws Exception {
 
             final SegmentReplicationSourceFactory sourceFactory = mock(SegmentReplicationSourceFactory.class);
             final SegmentReplicationTargetService targetService = newTargetService(sourceFactory);
-
             when(sourceFactory.get(any())).thenReturn(
                 getRemoteStoreReplicationSource(replica, () -> { throw new RuntimeException("Simulated"); })
             );
-            CountDownLatch waitOnReplication = new CountDownLatch(1);
+            CountDownLatch waitOnReplicationCompletion = new CountDownLatch(1);
 
             // Start first round of segment replication. This should fail with simulated error but with replica having
             // files in its local store but not in active reader.
-            targetService.startReplication(
+            SegmentReplicationTarget segmentReplicationTarget = targetService.startReplication(
                 replica,
                 primary.getLatestReplicationCheckpoint(),
                 new SegmentReplicationTargetService.SegmentReplicationListener() {
                     @Override
                     public void onReplicationDone(SegmentReplicationState state) {
+                        waitOnReplicationCompletion.countDown();
                         Assert.fail("Replication should fail with simulated error");
-                        waitOnReplication.countDown();
                     }
 
                     @Override
@@ -488,12 +488,13 @@ public void onReplicationFailure(
                         ReplicationFailedException e,
                         boolean sendShardFailure
                     ) {
+                        waitOnReplicationCompletion.countDown();
                         assertFalse(sendShardFailure);
-                        waitOnReplication.countDown();
                     }
                 }
             );
-            waitOnReplication.await();
+            waitOnReplicationCompletion.await();
+            assertBusy(() -> { assertEquals("Target should be closed", 0, segmentReplicationTarget.refCount()); });
             String fileToCorrupt = null;
             // Corrupt one data file
             Path shardPath = replica.shardPath().getDataPath().resolve(ShardPath.INDEX_FOLDER_NAME);