diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/ManagedIndexCoordinator.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/ManagedIndexCoordinator.kt
index 4b9a7fa80..51a877768 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/ManagedIndexCoordinator.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/ManagedIndexCoordinator.kt
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import org.opensearch.cluster.ClusterState
 import org.opensearch.cluster.ClusterStateListener
 import org.opensearch.cluster.block.ClusterBlockException
 import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata
+import org.opensearch.cluster.routing.Preference
 import org.opensearch.cluster.service.ClusterService
 import org.opensearch.common.lifecycle.LifecycleListener
 import org.opensearch.common.regex.Regex
@@ -429,6 +430,7 @@ class ManagedIndexCoordinator(
                 ).size(MAX_HITS)
             )
             .indices(INDEX_MANAGEMENT_INDEX)
+            .preference(Preference.PRIMARY_FIRST.type())
 
         return try {
             val response: SearchResponse = client.suspendUntil { search(searchRequest, it) }
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/explain/TransportExplainAction.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/explain/TransportExplainAction.kt
index f31d8e3d1..9e67742b3 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/explain/TransportExplainAction.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/explain/TransportExplainAction.kt
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import org.opensearch.action.support.HandledTransportAction
 import org.opensearch.action.support.master.AcknowledgedResponse
 import org.opensearch.client.node.NodeClient
 import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata
+import org.opensearch.cluster.routing.Preference
 import org.opensearch.cluster.service.ClusterService
 import org.opensearch.common.inject.Inject
 import org.opensearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext
@@ -177,6 +178,7 @@ class TransportExplainAction @Inject constructor(
             return SearchRequest()
                 .indices(INDEX_MANAGEMENT_INDEX)
                 .source(searchSourceBuilder)
+                .preference(Preference.PRIMARY_FIRST.type())
         }
 
         private fun searchForMetadata(searchRequest: SearchRequest) {
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/getpolicy/TransportGetPoliciesAction.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/getpolicy/TransportGetPoliciesAction.kt
index 607f13a49..9aaa9c91c 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/getpolicy/TransportGetPoliciesAction.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/getpolicy/TransportGetPoliciesAction.kt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import org.opensearch.action.search.SearchResponse
 import org.opensearch.action.support.ActionFilters
 import org.opensearch.action.support.HandledTransportAction
 import org.opensearch.client.Client
+import org.opensearch.cluster.routing.Preference
 import org.opensearch.cluster.service.ClusterService
 import org.opensearch.common.inject.Inject
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@ class TransportGetPoliciesAction @Inject constructor(
         val searchRequest = SearchRequest()
             .source(searchSourceBuilder)
             .indices(INDEX_MANAGEMENT_INDEX)
+            .preference(Preference.PRIMARY_FIRST.type())
 
         client.threadPool().threadContext.stashContext().use {
             client.search(
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/indexpolicy/TransportIndexPolicyAction.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/indexpolicy/TransportIndexPolicyAction.kt
index 7240c4f77..a2f483cbb 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/indexpolicy/TransportIndexPolicyAction.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/transport/action/indexpolicy/TransportIndexPolicyAction.kt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import org.opensearch.action.support.HandledTransportAction
 import org.opensearch.action.support.master.AcknowledgedResponse
 import org.opensearch.client.node.NodeClient
 import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.AutoExpandReplicas
+import org.opensearch.cluster.routing.Preference
 import org.opensearch.cluster.routing.allocation.AwarenessReplicaBalance
 import org.opensearch.cluster.service.ClusterService
 import org.opensearch.common.ValidationException
@@ -180,6 +181,7 @@ class TransportIndexPolicyAction @Inject constructor(
                     ).size(MAX_HITS)
                 )
                 .indices(IndexManagementPlugin.INDEX_MANAGEMENT_INDEX)
+                .preference(Preference.PRIMARY_FIRST.type())
 
             client.search(
                 searchRequest,
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/util/ManagedIndexUtils.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/util/ManagedIndexUtils.kt
index 25edb2039..309ce9931 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/util/ManagedIndexUtils.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/indexmanagement/indexstatemanagement/util/ManagedIndexUtils.kt
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import org.opensearch.action.support.WriteRequest
 import org.opensearch.action.update.UpdateRequest
 // import org.opensearch.alerting.destination.message.BaseMessage
 import org.opensearch.client.Client
+import org.opensearch.cluster.routing.Preference
 import org.opensearch.core.common.unit.ByteSizeValue
 import org.opensearch.common.unit.TimeValue
 import org.opensearch.common.xcontent.LoggingDeprecationHandler
@@ -199,6 +200,7 @@ fun getSweptManagedIndexSearchRequest(scroll: Boolean = false, size: Int = Manag
                 .fetchSource(emptyArray(), emptyArray())
                 .query(boolQueryBuilder)
         )
+        .preference(Preference.PRIMARY_FIRST.type())
     if (scroll) req.scroll(TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(1))
     return req
 }