diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/remotemigration/RemotePrimaryRelocationIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/remotemigration/RemotePrimaryRelocationIT.java
index 4a4057def4207..7d0dd92fed782 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/remotemigration/RemotePrimaryRelocationIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/remotemigration/RemotePrimaryRelocationIT.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 
 import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
+import static org.opensearch.node.remotestore.RemoteStoreNodeService.MIGRATION_DIRECTION_SETTING;
 import static org.opensearch.node.remotestore.RemoteStoreNodeService.REMOTE_STORE_COMPATIBILITY_MODE_SETTING;
 import static org.opensearch.test.hamcrest.OpenSearchAssertions.assertAcked;
 
@@ -87,6 +88,10 @@ public void testMixedModeRelocation() throws Exception {
         int finalCurrentDoc1 = currentDoc;
         waitUntil(() -> numAutoGenDocs.get() > finalCurrentDoc1 + 5);
 
+        // Change direction to remote store
+        updateSettingsRequest.persistentSettings(Settings.builder().put(MIGRATION_DIRECTION_SETTING.getKey(), "remote_store"));
+        assertAcked(client().admin().cluster().updateSettings(updateSettingsRequest).actionGet());
+
         logger.info("-->  relocating from {} to {} ", docRepNode, remoteNode);
         client().admin().cluster().prepareReroute().add(new MoveAllocationCommand("test", 0, docRepNode, remoteNode)).execute().actionGet();
         ClusterHealthResponse clusterHealthResponse = client().admin()
@@ -170,6 +175,10 @@ public void testMixedModeRelocation_RemoteSeedingFail() throws Exception {
             .setTransientSettings(Settings.builder().put(RecoverySettings.INDICES_INTERNAL_REMOTE_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT.getKey(), "10s"))
             .get();
 
+        // Change direction to remote store
+        updateSettingsRequest.persistentSettings(Settings.builder().put(MIGRATION_DIRECTION_SETTING.getKey(), "remote_store"));
+        assertAcked(client().admin().cluster().updateSettings(updateSettingsRequest).actionGet());
+
         logger.info("--> relocating from {} to {} ", docRepNode, remoteNode);
         client().admin().cluster().prepareReroute().add(new MoveAllocationCommand("test", 0, docRepNode, remoteNode)).execute().actionGet();
         ClusterHealthResponse clusterHealthResponse = client().admin()