diff --git a/oak-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/plugins/index/IndexUpdate.java b/oak-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/plugins/index/IndexUpdate.java
index 61cffe0..1dfa907 100644
--- a/oak-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/plugins/index/IndexUpdate.java
+++ b/oak-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/plugins/index/IndexUpdate.java
@@ -163,13 +163,17 @@ public class IndexUpdate implements Editor {
             log.info("Reindexing will be performed for following indexes: {}",
                     reindex.keySet());
             rootState.reindexedIndexes.addAll(reindex.keySet());
-        }
-
-        // no-op when reindex is empty
-        CommitFailedException exception = process(
-                wrap(wrapProgress(compose(reindex.values()), "Reindexing")), MISSING_NODE, after);
-        if (exception != null) {
-            throw exception;
+            Editor reindexer = wrap(wrapProgress(compose(reindex.values()), "Reindexing"));
+            // if before == MISSING_NODE there's no need for the out-of-band
+            // reindexing, we can do it in the current run
+            if (before == MISSING_NODE) {
+                editors.add(reindexer);
+            } else {
+                CommitFailedException exception = process(reindexer, MISSING_NODE, after);
+                if (exception != null) {
+                    throw exception;
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         for (Editor editor : editors) {