diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/action/CrossClusterQueryFailsIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/action/CrossClusterQueryFailsIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e37f85489ff8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/action/CrossClusterQueryFailsIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0; you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License
+ * 2.0.
+ */
+
+package org.elasticsearch.xpack.esql.action;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.ResourceNotFoundException;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.breaker.CircuitBreaker;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.breaker.CircuitBreakingException;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.EsRejectedExecutionException;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.transport.MockTransportService;
+import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportChannel;
+import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportService;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.empty;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
+
+public class CrossClusterQueryFailsIT extends AbstractCrossClusterTestCase {
+
+    private static Exception randomFailure() {
+        return randomFrom(
+            new IllegalStateException("driver was closed already"),
+            new CircuitBreakingException("low memory", CircuitBreaker.Durability.PERMANENT),
+            new IOException("broken disk"),
+            new ResourceNotFoundException("index not found"),
+            new EsRejectedExecutionException("node is shutting down")
+        );
+    }
+
+    public void testErrorDuringIndexLookupLocalRemote() throws Exception {
+        setupClusters(2);
+        Exception simulatedFailure = randomFailure();
+        setSkipUnavailable(REMOTE_CLUSTER_1, true);
+        // This will generate a random failure on resolution of remote index
+        for (TransportService transportService : cluster(REMOTE_CLUSTER_1).getInstances(TransportService.class)) {
+            MockTransportService ts = asInstanceOf(MockTransportService.class, transportService);
+            ts.addRequestHandlingBehavior(
+                EsqlResolveFieldsAction.RESOLVE_REMOTE_TYPE.name(),
+                (handler, request, channel, task) -> handler.messageReceived(request, new TransportChannel() {
+                    @Override
+                    public String getProfileName() {
+                        return channel.getProfileName();
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void sendResponse(TransportResponse response) {
+                        sendResponse(simulatedFailure);
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void sendResponse(Exception exception) {
+                        channel.sendResponse(exception);
+                    }
+                }, task)
+            );
+        }
+        try {
+            try (EsqlQueryResponse resp = runQuery("FROM logs-*,c*:logs-* | LIMIT 1", randomBoolean())) {
+                EsqlExecutionInfo executionInfo = resp.getExecutionInfo();
+                var localCluster = executionInfo.getCluster(LOCAL_CLUSTER);
+                assertThat(localCluster.getStatus(), equalTo(EsqlExecutionInfo.Cluster.Status.SUCCESSFUL));
+                var remoteCluster = executionInfo.getCluster(REMOTE_CLUSTER_1);
+                // FIXME: currently this fails, the remote error gets hidden and is not reported in the response
+                // field caps response does contain FieldCapabilitiesFailure but it is ignored by mergedMappings
+                assertThat(remoteCluster.getStatus(), equalTo(EsqlExecutionInfo.Cluster.Status.SKIPPED));
+                assertThat(remoteCluster.getFailures(), not(empty()));
+                var failure = remoteCluster.getFailures().get(0);
+                assertThat(failure.reason(), containsString(simulatedFailure.getMessage()));
+            }
+        } finally {
+            for (TransportService transportService : cluster(REMOTE_CLUSTER_1).getInstances(TransportService.class)) {
+                MockTransportService ts = asInstanceOf(MockTransportService.class, transportService);
+                ts.clearAllRules();
+            }
+
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void testErrorDuringIndexLookupRemoteOnly() throws Exception {
+        setupClusters(2);
+        Exception simulatedFailure = randomFailure();
+        setSkipUnavailable(REMOTE_CLUSTER_1, true);
+        // This will generate a random failure on resolution of remote index
+        for (TransportService transportService : cluster(REMOTE_CLUSTER_1).getInstances(TransportService.class)) {
+            MockTransportService ts = asInstanceOf(MockTransportService.class, transportService);
+            ts.addRequestHandlingBehavior(
+                EsqlResolveFieldsAction.RESOLVE_REMOTE_TYPE.name(),
+                (handler, request, channel, task) -> handler.messageReceived(request, new TransportChannel() {
+                    @Override
+                    public String getProfileName() {
+                        return channel.getProfileName();
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void sendResponse(TransportResponse response) {
+                        sendResponse(simulatedFailure);
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void sendResponse(Exception exception) {
+                        channel.sendResponse(exception);
+                    }
+                }, task)
+            );
+        }
+        try {
+            // FIXME: this throws exception even though skip_unavailable is set to true on the remote cluster
+            // It should have caught it and returned an empty response with a failure in metadata
+            try (EsqlQueryResponse resp = runQuery("FROM c*:logs-* | LIMIT 1", randomBoolean())) {
+                EsqlExecutionInfo executionInfo = resp.getExecutionInfo();
+                assertThat(executionInfo.getClusters().keySet(), hasSize(1));
+                var remoteCluster = executionInfo.getCluster(REMOTE_CLUSTER_1);
+                assertThat(remoteCluster.getStatus(), equalTo(EsqlExecutionInfo.Cluster.Status.SKIPPED));
+                assertThat(remoteCluster.getFailures(), not(empty()));
+                var failure = remoteCluster.getFailures().get(0);
+                assertThat(failure.reason(), containsString(simulatedFailure.getMessage()));
+            }
+        } finally {
+            for (TransportService transportService : cluster(REMOTE_CLUSTER_1).getInstances(TransportService.class)) {
+                MockTransportService ts = asInstanceOf(MockTransportService.class, transportService);
+                ts.clearAllRules();
+            }
+
+        }
+    }
+}