diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/es_client/__tests__/instantiate_client.js b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/es_client/__tests__/instantiate_client.js
index bb11902f1ff6..6ebd3fb7fd05 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/es_client/__tests__/instantiate_client.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/es_client/__tests__/instantiate_client.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import expect from 'expect.js';
 import sinon from 'sinon';
 import { get, noop } from 'lodash';
-import { exposeClient } from '../instantiate_client';
+import { exposeClient, hasMonitoringCluster } from '../instantiate_client';
 
 function getMockServerFromConnectionUrl(monitoringClusterUrl) {
   const server = {
@@ -136,4 +136,16 @@ describe('Instantiate Client', () => {
       expect(createClientOptions.password).to.eql('monitoring-p@ssw0rd!-internal-test');
     });
   });
+
+  describe('hasMonitoringCluster', () => {
+    it('returns true if monitoring is configured', () => {
+      const server = getMockServerFromConnectionUrl('http://monitoring-cluster.test:9200'); // pass null for URL to create the client using prod config
+      expect(hasMonitoringCluster(server)).to.be(true);
+    });
+
+    it('returns false if monitoring is not configured', () => {
+      const server = getMockServerFromConnectionUrl(null);
+      expect(hasMonitoringCluster(server)).to.be(false);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/es_client/instantiate_client.js b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/es_client/instantiate_client.js
index c52c1b3aa829..a4930d9d1dc2 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/es_client/instantiate_client.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/es_client/instantiate_client.js
@@ -15,28 +15,22 @@ import { LOGGING_TAG } from '../../common/constants';
  */
 
 export function exposeClient(server) {
-  const monitoringEsConfig = server.config().get('xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch');
-
-  let config;
-  let configSource;
-  if (!Boolean(monitoringEsConfig.hosts && monitoringEsConfig.hosts.length)) {
-    config = {};
-    configSource = 'production';
-  } else {
-    config = { ...monitoringEsConfig };
-    configSource = 'monitoring';
-  }
-
+  const config = hasMonitoringCluster(server) ? server.config().get('xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch') : {};
   const cluster = server.plugins.elasticsearch.createCluster('monitoring', {
     ...config,
     plugins: [monitoringBulk],
-    logQueries: Boolean(monitoringEsConfig.logQueries),
+    logQueries: Boolean(config.logQueries),
   });
 
   server.events.on('stop', bindKey(cluster, 'close'));
-
+  const configSource = hasMonitoringCluster(server) ? 'monitoring' : 'production';
   server.log([LOGGING_TAG, 'es-client'], `config sourced from: ${configSource} cluster`);
 }
 
+export function hasMonitoringCluster(server) {
+  const hosts = server.config().get('xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch.hosts');
+  return Boolean(hosts && hosts.length);
+}
+
 
 export const instantiateClient = once(exposeClient);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/init_monitoring_xpack_info.js b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/init_monitoring_xpack_info.js
index 152515fa3194..39d078c80092 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/init_monitoring_xpack_info.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/init_monitoring_xpack_info.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { checkLicenseGenerator } from './cluster_alerts/check_license';
+import { hasMonitoringCluster } from './es_client/instantiate_client';
 import { LOGGING_TAG } from '../common/constants';
 
 /*
@@ -12,11 +13,10 @@ import { LOGGING_TAG } from '../common/constants';
  */
 export const initMonitoringXpackInfo = async server => {
   const config = server.config();
-  const xpackInfoOptions = {
+  const xpackInfo = hasMonitoringCluster(server) ? server.plugins.xpack_main.createXPackInfo({
     clusterSource: 'monitoring',
     pollFrequencyInMillis: config.get('xpack.monitoring.xpack_api_polling_frequency_millis')
-  };
-  const xpackInfo = server.plugins.xpack_main.createXPackInfo(xpackInfoOptions);
+  }) : server.plugins.xpack_main.info;
 
   xpackInfo.feature('monitoring').registerLicenseCheckResultsGenerator(checkLicenseGenerator);
   server.expose('info', xpackInfo);