diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/pr-21197.toml b/changelog/unreleased/pr-21197.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..89604ad1f796
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/pr-21197.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+type = "fixed"
+message = "Add archive restore retry on mapper parsing exception."
+
+issues = ["graylog-plugin-enterprise#9208"]
+pulls = ["21197", "Graylog2/graylog-plugin-enterprise#9413"]
diff --git a/graylog-storage-elasticsearch7/src/main/java/org/graylog/storage/elasticsearch7/ElasticsearchClient.java b/graylog-storage-elasticsearch7/src/main/java/org/graylog/storage/elasticsearch7/ElasticsearchClient.java
index c6c45d1f2de8..4f16148a0cb6 100644
--- a/graylog-storage-elasticsearch7/src/main/java/org/graylog/storage/elasticsearch7/ElasticsearchClient.java
+++ b/graylog-storage-elasticsearch7/src/main/java/org/graylog/storage/elasticsearch7/ElasticsearchClient.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 import org.graylog2.indexer.BatchSizeTooLargeException;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.IndexNotFoundException;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.InvalidWriteTargetException;
+import org.graylog2.indexer.MapperParsingException;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.MasterNotDiscoveredException;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -202,6 +203,9 @@ private ElasticsearchException exceptionFrom(Exception e, String errorMessage) {
             if (isBatchSizeTooLargeException(elasticsearchException)) {
                 throw new BatchSizeTooLargeException(elasticsearchException.getMessage());
             }
+            if (isMapperParsingExceptionException(elasticsearchException)) {
+                throw new MapperParsingException(elasticsearchException.getMessage());
+            }
         } else if (e instanceof IOException && e.getCause() instanceof ContentTooLongException) {
             throw new BatchSizeTooLargeException(e.getMessage());
         }
@@ -231,6 +235,10 @@ private boolean isIndexNotFoundException(ElasticsearchException elasticsearchExc
         return elasticsearchException.getMessage().contains("index_not_found_exception");
     }
 
+    private boolean isMapperParsingExceptionException(ElasticsearchException openSearchException) {
+        return openSearchException.getMessage().contains("mapper_parsing_exception");
+    }
+
     private boolean isBatchSizeTooLargeException(ElasticsearchException elasticsearchException) {
         if (elasticsearchException instanceof ElasticsearchStatusException statusException) {
             if (statusException.getCause() instanceof ResponseException responseException) {
diff --git a/graylog-storage-opensearch2/src/main/java/org/graylog/storage/opensearch2/OpenSearchClient.java b/graylog-storage-opensearch2/src/main/java/org/graylog/storage/opensearch2/OpenSearchClient.java
index e12b820a3a14..0bc939e48e6d 100644
--- a/graylog-storage-opensearch2/src/main/java/org/graylog/storage/opensearch2/OpenSearchClient.java
+++ b/graylog-storage-opensearch2/src/main/java/org/graylog/storage/opensearch2/OpenSearchClient.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 import org.graylog2.indexer.BatchSizeTooLargeException;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.IndexNotFoundException;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.InvalidWriteTargetException;
+import org.graylog2.indexer.MapperParsingException;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.MasterNotDiscoveredException;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -202,6 +203,9 @@ private OpenSearchException exceptionFrom(Exception e, String errorMessage) {
             if (isBatchSizeTooLargeException(openSearchException)) {
                 throw new BatchSizeTooLargeException(openSearchException.getMessage());
             }
+            if (isMapperParsingExceptionException(openSearchException)) {
+                throw new MapperParsingException(openSearchException.getMessage());
+            }
         } else if (e instanceof IOException && e.getCause() instanceof ContentTooLongException) {
             throw new BatchSizeTooLargeException(e.getMessage());
         }
@@ -231,6 +235,10 @@ private boolean isIndexNotFoundException(OpenSearchException openSearchException
         return openSearchException.getMessage().contains("index_not_found_exception");
     }
 
+    private boolean isMapperParsingExceptionException(OpenSearchException openSearchException) {
+        return openSearchException.getMessage().contains("mapper_parsing_exception");
+    }
+
     private boolean isBatchSizeTooLargeException(OpenSearchException openSearchException) {
         if (openSearchException instanceof OpenSearchStatusException statusException) {
             if (statusException.getCause() instanceof ResponseException responseException) {
diff --git a/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog2/indexer/MapperParsingException.java b/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog2/indexer/MapperParsingException.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e7c656adf015
--- /dev/null
+++ b/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog2/indexer/MapperParsingException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Graylog, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the Server Side Public License, version 1,
+ * as published by MongoDB, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * Server Side Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the Server Side Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see
+ * <http://www.mongodb.com/licensing/server-side-public-license>.
+ */
+package org.graylog2.indexer;
+
+public class MapperParsingException extends ElasticsearchException {
+    public MapperParsingException(String errorMessage) {
+        super(errorMessage);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog2/indexer/indices/Indices.java b/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog2/indexer/indices/Indices.java
index 5dd979d9a055..1a98434c011c 100644
--- a/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog2/indexer/indices/Indices.java
+++ b/graylog2-server/src/main/java/org/graylog2/indexer/indices/Indices.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import org.graylog2.indexer.IndexNotFoundException;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.IndexSet;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.IndexTemplateNotFoundException;
+import org.graylog2.indexer.MapperParsingException;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.indexset.CustomFieldMappings;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.indexset.IndexSetConfig;
 import org.graylog2.indexer.indexset.IndexSetMappingTemplate;
@@ -227,7 +228,7 @@ public void deleteIndexTemplate(IndexSet indexSet) {
     }
 
     public boolean create(String indexName, IndexSet indexSet) {
-        return create(indexName, indexSet, null, null );
+        return create(indexName, indexSet, null, null);
     }
 
     public boolean create(String indexName,
@@ -248,6 +249,10 @@ public boolean create(String indexName,
 
             indicesAdapter.create(indexName, settings, mappings);
         } catch (Exception e) {
+            if ((indexSettings != null || indexMapping != null) && e instanceof MapperParsingException) {
+                LOG.info("Couldn't create index {}. Error: {}. Fall back to default settings/mappings and retry.", indexName, e.getMessage(), e);
+                return create(indexName, indexSet, null, null);
+            }
             LOG.warn("Couldn't create index {}. Error: {}", indexName, e.getMessage(), e);
             auditEventSender.failure(AuditActor.system(nodeId), ES_INDEX_CREATE, ImmutableMap.of("indexName", indexName));
             return false;
@@ -259,7 +264,7 @@ public boolean create(String indexName,
     private Optional<IndexMappingTemplate> indexMapping(IndexSet indexSet) {
         try {
             return Optional.of(indexMappingFactory.createIndexMapping(indexSet.getConfig()));
-        }catch (IgnoreIndexTemplate e){
+        } catch (IgnoreIndexTemplate e) {
             return Optional.empty();
         }
     }