diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/cluster/MLCommonsClusterEventListener.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/cluster/MLCommonsClusterEventListener.java
index f883d1f3b3..e28660dbfe 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/cluster/MLCommonsClusterEventListener.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/cluster/MLCommonsClusterEventListener.java
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 package org.opensearch.ml.cluster;
 
-import static org.opensearch.ml.common.CommonValue.TASK_POLLING_JOB_INDEX;
+import static org.opensearch.ml.common.CommonValue.ML_JOBS_INDEX;
 import static org.opensearch.ml.common.settings.MLCommonsSettings.ML_COMMONS_MONITORING_REQUEST_COUNT;
 
 import java.util.List;
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ public class MLCommonsClusterEventListener implements ClusterStateListener {
     private final MLModelAutoReDeployer mlModelAutoReDeployer;
     private final Client client;
     private final MLFeatureEnabledSetting mlFeatureEnabledSetting;
+    private boolean startedStatsJob;
 
     public MLCommonsClusterEventListener(
         ClusterService clusterService,
@@ -90,12 +91,13 @@ public void clusterChanged(ClusterChangedEvent event) {
          */
         for (DiscoveryNode node : state.nodes()) {
             if (node.isDataNode() && node.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_3_1_0)) {
-                if (mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isMetricCollectionEnabled() && mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isStaticMetricCollectionEnabled()) {
+                if (mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isMetricCollectionEnabled()
+                    && mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isStaticMetricCollectionEnabled()
+                    && !clusterService.state().getMetadata().hasIndex(ML_JOBS_INDEX)
+                    && !this.startedStatsJob) {
                     mlTaskManager.indexStatsCollectorJob(true);
-                }
-
-                if (clusterService.state().getMetadata().hasIndex(TASK_POLLING_JOB_INDEX)) {
-                    mlTaskManager.startTaskPollingJob();
+                    // using this variable in case if same node has a cluster state change event and the state is not updated yet
+                    this.startedStatsJob = true;
                 }
 
                 break;
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/task/MLTaskManager.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/task/MLTaskManager.java
index f5bba724dc..1752ae5d29 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/task/MLTaskManager.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/task/MLTaskManager.java
@@ -577,6 +577,11 @@ public void onStaticMetricCollectionEnabledChanged(boolean isEnabled) {
     }
 
     public void indexStatsCollectorJob(boolean enabled) {
+        if (this.statsCollectorJobStarted && enabled) {
+            log.debug("Stats collector job already in desired state: {}", enabled);
+            return;
+        }
+
         try {
             MLJobParameter jobParameter = new MLJobParameter(
                 MLJobType.STATS_COLLECTOR.name(),
@@ -593,7 +598,10 @@ public void indexStatsCollectorJob(boolean enabled) {
                 .source(jobParameter.toXContent(JsonXContent.contentBuilder(), null))
                 .setRefreshPolicy(WriteRequest.RefreshPolicy.IMMEDIATE);
 
-            indexJob(indexRequest, MLJobType.STATS_COLLECTOR, () -> {});
+            indexJob(indexRequest, MLJobType.STATS_COLLECTOR, () -> {
+                this.statsCollectorJobStarted = enabled;
+                log.debug("Stats collector job {} successfully", enabled ? "started" : "stopped");
+            });
         } catch (IOException e) {
             log.error("Failed to index stats collection job", e);
         }
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/opensearch/ml/cluster/MLCommonsClusterEventListenerTests.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/opensearch/ml/cluster/MLCommonsClusterEventListenerTests.java
index f2d8fdffcb..0de509d1ed 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/opensearch/ml/cluster/MLCommonsClusterEventListenerTests.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/opensearch/ml/cluster/MLCommonsClusterEventListenerTests.java
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
-import static org.opensearch.ml.common.CommonValue.TASK_POLLING_JOB_INDEX;
+import static org.opensearch.ml.common.CommonValue.ML_JOBS_INDEX;
 
 import java.util.Collections;
 
@@ -82,36 +82,34 @@ public void testClusterChanged_WithV31DataNode_MetricCollectionEnabled() {
         listener.clusterChanged(event);
 
         verify(mlTaskManager).indexStatsCollectorJob(true);
-        verify(mlTaskManager, never()).startTaskPollingJob();
     }
 
-    public void testClusterChanged_WithV31DataNode_TaskPollingIndexExists() {
-        DiscoveryNode dataNode = createDataNode(Version.V_3_1_0);
-        setupClusterState(dataNode, true);
+    public void testClusterChanged_WithPreV31DataNode_NoJobsStarted() {
+        DiscoveryNode dataNode = createDataNode(Version.V_3_0_0);
+        setupClusterState(dataNode, false);
 
-        when(mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isMetricCollectionEnabled()).thenReturn(false);
+        when(mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isMetricCollectionEnabled()).thenReturn(true);
+        when(mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isStaticMetricCollectionEnabled()).thenReturn(true);
 
         listener.clusterChanged(event);
 
         verify(mlTaskManager, never()).indexStatsCollectorJob(anyBoolean());
-        verify(mlTaskManager).startTaskPollingJob();
     }
 
-    public void testClusterChanged_WithPreV31DataNode_NoJobsStarted() {
-        DiscoveryNode dataNode = createDataNode(Version.V_3_0_0);
-        setupClusterState(dataNode, true);
+    public void testClusterChanged_WithPostV31DataNode_JobsStarted() {
+        DiscoveryNode dataNode = createDataNode(Version.V_3_2_0);
+        setupClusterState(dataNode, false);
 
         when(mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isMetricCollectionEnabled()).thenReturn(true);
         when(mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isStaticMetricCollectionEnabled()).thenReturn(true);
 
         listener.clusterChanged(event);
 
-        verify(mlTaskManager, never()).indexStatsCollectorJob(anyBoolean());
-        verify(mlTaskManager, never()).startTaskPollingJob();
+        verify(mlTaskManager).indexStatsCollectorJob(true);
     }
 
-    public void testClusterChanged_WithPostV31DataNode_JobsStarted() {
-        DiscoveryNode dataNode = createDataNode(Version.V_3_2_0);
+    public void testClusterChanged_IndexAlreadyPresent_JobNotStarted() {
+        DiscoveryNode dataNode = createDataNode(Version.V_3_1_0);
         setupClusterState(dataNode, true);
 
         when(mlFeatureEnabledSetting.isMetricCollectionEnabled()).thenReturn(true);
@@ -119,8 +117,7 @@ public void testClusterChanged_WithPostV31DataNode_JobsStarted() {
 
         listener.clusterChanged(event);
 
-        verify(mlTaskManager).indexStatsCollectorJob(true);
-        verify(mlTaskManager).startTaskPollingJob();
+        verify(mlTaskManager, never()).indexStatsCollectorJob(anyBoolean());
     }
 
     private DiscoveryNode createDataNode(Version version) {
@@ -134,7 +131,7 @@ private DiscoveryNode createDataNode(Version version) {
         );
     }
 
-    private void setupClusterState(DiscoveryNode node, boolean hasTaskPollingIndex) {
+    private void setupClusterState(DiscoveryNode node, boolean hasMLJobsIndex) {
         DiscoveryNodes nodes = DiscoveryNodes.builder().add(node).build();
 
         when(event.state()).thenReturn(clusterState);
@@ -143,7 +140,7 @@ private void setupClusterState(DiscoveryNode node, boolean hasTaskPollingIndex)
         when(clusterState.nodes()).thenReturn(nodes);
         when(clusterState.getMetadata()).thenReturn(metadata);
         when(clusterService.state()).thenReturn(clusterState);
-        when(metadata.hasIndex(TASK_POLLING_JOB_INDEX)).thenReturn(hasTaskPollingIndex);
+        when(metadata.hasIndex(ML_JOBS_INDEX)).thenReturn(hasMLJobsIndex);
         when(metadata.settings()).thenReturn(org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings.EMPTY);
     }
 }