diff --git a/src/plugins/data_views/common/data_views/data_views.test.ts b/src/plugins/data_views/common/data_views/data_views.test.ts
index 01e2b9b1d95f3..e5e9b2d83faf7 100644
--- a/src/plugins/data_views/common/data_views/data_views.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/data_views/common/data_views/data_views.test.ts
@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@ import {
   IDataViewsApiClient,
 } from '../types';
 import { stubbedSavedObjectIndexPattern } from '../data_view.stub';
+import { DataViewMissingIndices } from '../lib';
 
 const createFieldsFetcher = () =>
   ({
-    getFieldsForWildcard: jest.fn(async () => ({ fields: [], indices: [] })),
+    getFieldsForWildcard: jest.fn(async () => ({ fields: [], indices: ['test'] })),
   } as any as IDataViewsApiClient);
 
 const fieldFormats = fieldFormatsMock;
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ describe('IndexPatterns', () => {
   const indexPatternObj = { id: 'id', version: 'a', attributes: { title: 'title' } };
 
   beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.clearAllMocks();
     savedObjectsClient = {} as SavedObjectsClientCommon;
     savedObjectsClient.find = jest.fn(
       () => Promise.resolve([indexPatternObj]) as Promise<Array<SavedObject<any>>>
@@ -220,6 +222,35 @@ describe('IndexPatterns', () => {
     expect((await indexPatterns.get(id)).fields.length).toBe(1);
   });
 
+  test('existing indices, so dataView.matchedIndices.length equals 1 ', async () => {
+    const id = '1';
+    setDocsourcePayload(id, {
+      id: 'foo',
+      version: 'foo',
+      attributes: {
+        title: 'something',
+      },
+    });
+    const dataView = await indexPatterns.get(id);
+    expect(dataView.matchedIndices.length).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('missing indices, so dataView.matchedIndices.length equals 0 ', async () => {
+    const id = '1';
+    setDocsourcePayload(id, {
+      id: 'foo',
+      version: 'foo',
+      attributes: {
+        title: 'something',
+      },
+    });
+    apiClient.getFieldsForWildcard = jest.fn().mockImplementation(async () => {
+      throw new DataViewMissingIndices('Catch me if you can!');
+    });
+    const dataView = await indexPatterns.get(id);
+    expect(dataView.matchedIndices.length).toBe(0);
+  });
+
   test('savedObjectCache pre-fetches title, type, typeMeta', async () => {
     expect(await indexPatterns.getIds()).toEqual(['id']);
     expect(savedObjectsClient.find).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
diff --git a/src/plugins/data_views/common/data_views/data_views.ts b/src/plugins/data_views/common/data_views/data_views.ts
index 13fbb9cec243e..afccfdcee79fc 100644
--- a/src/plugins/data_views/common/data_views/data_views.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/data_views/common/data_views/data_views.ts
@@ -569,8 +569,8 @@ export class DataViewsService {
   };
 
   /**
-   * Refresh field list for a given index pattern.
-   * @param indexPattern
+   * Refresh field list for a given data view.
+   * @param dataView
    * @param displayErrors  - If set false, API consumer is responsible for displaying and handling errors.
    */
   refreshFields = async (dataView: DataView, displayErrors: boolean = true) => {
@@ -582,22 +582,19 @@ export class DataViewsService {
       await this.refreshFieldsFn(dataView);
     } catch (err) {
       if (err instanceof DataViewMissingIndices) {
-        this.onNotification(
-          { title: err.message, color: 'danger', iconType: 'error' },
-          `refreshFields:${dataView.getIndexPattern()}`
+        // not considered an error, check dataView.matchedIndices.length to be 0
+      } else {
+        this.onError(
+          err,
+          {
+            title: i18n.translate('dataViews.fetchFieldErrorTitle', {
+              defaultMessage: 'Error fetching fields for data view {title} (ID: {id})',
+              values: { id: dataView.id, title: dataView.getIndexPattern() },
+            }),
+          },
+          dataView.getIndexPattern()
         );
       }
-
-      this.onError(
-        err,
-        {
-          title: i18n.translate('dataViews.fetchFieldErrorTitle', {
-            defaultMessage: 'Error fetching fields for data view {title} (ID: {id})',
-            values: { id: dataView.id, title: dataView.getIndexPattern() },
-          }),
-        },
-        dataView.getIndexPattern()
-      );
     }
   };
 
@@ -635,14 +632,12 @@ export class DataViewsService {
       return { fields: this.fieldArrayToMap(updatedFieldList, fieldAttrs), indices };
     } catch (err) {
       if (err instanceof DataViewMissingIndices) {
-        if (displayErrors) {
-          this.onNotification(
-            { title: err.message, color: 'danger', iconType: 'error' },
-            `refreshFieldSpecMap:${title}`
-          );
-        }
+        // not considered an error, check dataView.matchedIndices.length to be 0
         return {};
       }
+      if (!displayErrors) {
+        throw err;
+      }
 
       this.onError(
         err,
@@ -798,19 +793,13 @@ export class DataViewsService {
         const fieldsAndIndices = await this.initFromSavedObjectLoadFields({
           savedObjectId: savedObject.id,
           spec,
+          displayErrors,
         });
         fields = fieldsAndIndices.fields;
         indices = fieldsAndIndices.indices;
       } catch (err) {
         if (err instanceof DataViewMissingIndices) {
-          this.onNotification(
-            {
-              title: err.message,
-              color: 'danger',
-              iconType: 'error',
-            },
-            `initFromSavedObject:${spec.title}`
-          );
+          // not considered an error, check dataView.matchedIndices.length to be 0
         } else {
           this.onError(
             err,