diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/controllers/discover.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/controllers/discover.js
index 8a6570781e87d..bc7fced1d988e 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/controllers/discover.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/controllers/discover.js
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ import { addHelpMenuToAppChrome } from '../components/help_menu/help_menu_util';
 import { extractTimeFilter, changeTimeFilter } from '../../../../data/public';
 import { start as data } from '../../../../data/public/legacy';
 import { npStart } from 'ui/new_platform';
+import { getIndexPatternId } from '../helpers/get_index_pattern_id';
 
 const { savedQueryService } = data.search.services;
 
@@ -92,7 +93,8 @@ const app = uiModules.get('apps/discover', [
 
 uiRoutes
   .defaults(/^\/discover(\/|$)/, {
-    requireDefaultIndex: true,
+    requireDefaultIndex: false,
+    requireIndexPatternLength: true,
     requireUICapability: 'discover.show',
     k7Breadcrumbs: ($route, $injector) =>
       $injector.invoke(
@@ -122,7 +124,7 @@ uiRoutes
     resolve: {
       ip: function (Promise, indexPatterns, config, Private) {
         const State = Private(StateProvider);
-        return indexPatterns.getCache().then((savedObjects)=> {
+        return indexPatterns.getCache().then((indexPatternList)=> {
           /**
            *  In making the indexPattern modifiable it was placed in appState. Unfortunately,
            *  the load order of AppState conflicts with the load order of many other things
@@ -133,17 +135,14 @@ uiRoutes
            *  @type {State}
            */
           const state = new State('_a', {});
-
-          const specified = !!state.index;
-          const exists = _.findIndex(savedObjects, o => o.id === state.index) > -1;
-          const id = exists ? state.index : config.get('defaultIndex');
+          const id = getIndexPatternId(state.index, indexPatternList, config.get('defaultIndex'));
           state.destroy();
 
           return Promise.props({
-            list: savedObjects,
+            list: indexPatternList,
             loaded: indexPatterns.get(id),
             stateVal: state.index,
-            stateValFound: specified && exists
+            stateValFound: !!state.index && id === state.index
           });
         });
       },
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/helpers/get_index_pattern_id.ts b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/helpers/get_index_pattern_id.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ab0a8d290d826
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/helpers/get_index_pattern_id.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+import { IndexPattern } from '../../../../data/public/index_patterns';
+
+export function findIndexPatternById(
+  indexPatterns: IndexPattern[],
+  id: string
+): IndexPattern | undefined {
+  if (!Array.isArray(indexPatterns) || !id) {
+    return;
+  }
+  return indexPatterns.find(o => o.id === id);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Checks if the given defaultIndex exists and returns
+ * the first available index pattern id if not
+ */
+export function getFallbackIndexPatternId(
+  indexPatterns: IndexPattern[],
+  defaultIndex: string = ''
+): string {
+  if (defaultIndex && findIndexPatternById(indexPatterns, defaultIndex)) {
+    return defaultIndex;
+  }
+  return !indexPatterns || !indexPatterns.length || !indexPatterns[0].id ? '' : indexPatterns[0].id;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A given index pattern id is checked for existence and a fallback is provided if it doesn't exist
+ * The provided defaultIndex is usually configured in Advanced Setting, if it's also invalid
+ * the first entry of the given list of Indexpatterns is used
+ */
+export function getIndexPatternId(
+  id: string = '',
+  indexPatterns: IndexPattern[],
+  defaultIndex: string = ''
+): string {
+  if (!id || !findIndexPatternById(indexPatterns, id)) {
+    return getFallbackIndexPatternId(indexPatterns, defaultIndex);
+  }
+  return id;
+}
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/management/route_setup/load_default.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/management/route_setup/load_default.js
index f797acbe8888e..730bc70f50ddf 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/management/route_setup/load_default.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/management/route_setup/load_default.js
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 import _ from 'lodash';
 import React from 'react';
 import { banners } from 'ui/notify';
-import { NoDefaultIndexPattern } from 'ui/index_patterns';
+import { NoDefaultIndexPattern, NoDefinedIndexPatterns } from 'ui/index_patterns';
 import uiRoutes from 'ui/routes';
 import {
   EuiCallOut,
@@ -67,12 +67,21 @@ export default function (opts) {
     .addSetupWork(function loadDefaultIndexPattern(Promise, $route, config, indexPatterns) {
       const route = _.get($route, 'current.$$route');
 
-      if (!route.requireDefaultIndex) {
+      if (!route.requireDefaultIndex && !route.requireIndexPatternLength) {
         return;
       }
 
       return indexPatterns.getIds()
         .then(function (patterns) {
+          if (route.requireIndexPatternLength && !patterns.length) {
+            throw new NoDefinedIndexPatterns();
+          }
+          if(route.requireIndexPatternLength && !route.requireDefaultIndex) {
+            // iIn this case e.g. Discover takes care of the defaultIndex logic
+            // Users with lack of permissions would see an error when a defaultIndex is persisted
+            return;
+          }
+
           let defaultId = config.get('defaultIndex');
           let defined = !!defaultId;
           const exists = _.contains(patterns, defaultId);
@@ -99,8 +108,8 @@ export default function (opts) {
 
       // failure
       function (err, kbnUrl) {
-        const hasDefault = !(err instanceof NoDefaultIndexPattern);
-        if (hasDefault || !whenMissingRedirectTo) throw err; // rethrow
+        const isKnowException = (err instanceof NoDefaultIndexPattern) || (err instanceof NoDefinedIndexPatterns);
+        if (!isKnowException || !whenMissingRedirectTo) throw err; // rethrow
 
         kbnUrl.change(whenMissingRedirectTo());