diff --git a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-common b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-common
index ab8570af4..9fd5d6576 100755
--- a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-common
+++ b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-common
@@ -408,36 +408,19 @@ initialize_elasticsearch_indices() {
     local index_names=$1
     local default_entry=${2:-'{"@timestamp":"0"}'}
 
-    local retries=3
-    local retry_delay=5
-
     for idx in $index_names; do
-        local count=0
-        if ! output=$(so-elasticsearch-query "$idx" --fail --retry 3 --retry-delay 30); then
+        if ! so-elasticsearch-query "$idx" --fail --retry 3 --retry-delay 30 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "Index does not already exist. Initializing $idx index."
 
-            while [[ $count -lt $retries ]]; do
-                response=$(so-elasticsearch-query "$idx/_doc" -d "$default_entry" -XPOST --fail 2>/dev/null)
-                if echo "$response" | grep -q '"successful":1'; then
-                    echo "Successfully initialized $idx index."
-
-                    break
-                else
-                    echo "Failed to initialize $idx index. Retrying in $retry_delay seconds..."
-                    sleep $retry_delay
-                    ((count++))
-                fi
-            done
-
-            if [[ $count -eq $retries ]]; then
-                echo "Failed to initialize $idx index after $retries attempts."
+            if retry 3 10 "so-elasticsearch-query "$idx/_doc" -d '$default_entry' -XPOST --fail 2>/dev/null" '"successful":1'; then
+                echo "Successfully initialized $idx index."
+            else
+                echo "Failed to initialize $idx index after 3 attempts."
             fi
-
         else
             echo "Index $idx already exists. No action needed."
         fi
     done
-
 }
 
 lookup_bond_interfaces() {