diff --git a/haystack/document_store/elasticsearch.py b/haystack/document_store/elasticsearch.py
index 5049446b6..fc8aabd50 100644
--- a/haystack/document_store/elasticsearch.py
+++ b/haystack/document_store/elasticsearch.py
@@ -780,7 +780,8 @@ class ElasticsearchDocumentStore(BaseDocumentStore):
             query["query"] = {"match_all": {}}
         self.client.delete_by_query(index=index, body=query, ignore=[404])
         # We want to be sure that all docs are deleted before continuing (delete_by_query doesn't support wait_for)
-        time.sleep(1)
+        if self.refresh_type == "wait_for":
+            time.sleep(1)
 
 
 class OpenDistroElasticsearchDocumentStore(ElasticsearchDocumentStore):