diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 3d8c3307..0a0d91dd 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+Changes in 0.8.7
+================
+- Stop ensure_indexes running on a secondaries (#555)
+
 Changes in 0.8.6
 ================
 - Fix django auth import (#531)
diff --git a/mongoengine/document.py b/mongoengine/document.py
index b47490bd..9a260279 100644
--- a/mongoengine/document.py
+++ b/mongoengine/document.py
@@ -549,6 +549,8 @@ class Document(BaseDocument):
         index_cls = cls._meta.get('index_cls', True)
 
         collection = cls._get_collection()
+        if collection.read_preference > 1:
+            return
 
         # determine if an index which we are creating includes
         # _cls as its first field; if so, we can avoid creating