diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/store/CompositeDirectory.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/store/CompositeDirectory.java
index cb95c31941a0e..6da50e1e0ed86 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/store/CompositeDirectory.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/store/CompositeDirectory.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.AccessDeniedException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
@@ -188,7 +189,18 @@ not present in remote as well (due to metadata refresh). In such scenarios listA
                         logger.debug("The file [{}] exists in local but not part of FileCache, deleting it from local", blockFile);
                         localDirectory.deleteFile(blockFile);
                     } else {
-                        fileCache.remove(getFilePath(blockFile));
+                        // here the file is to be deleted both from FileCache and the local directory.
+                        Path blockFilePath = getFilePath(blockFile);
+                        try {
+                            fileCache.remove(blockFilePath);
+                        }catch(Exception e){
+                            if (e.getCause() instanceof AccessDeniedException) {
+                                localDirectory.deleteFile(blockFile);
+                            } else {
+                                logger.error("Exception while removing file [{}] from FileCache. Exception:", blockFilePath, e);
+                                throw e;
+                            }
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             }