diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/task/MLTaskDispatcher.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/task/MLTaskDispatcher.java
index 69047231a2..20f5764334 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/task/MLTaskDispatcher.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/task/MLTaskDispatcher.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import static org.opensearch.ml.stats.StatNames.ML_EXECUTING_TASK_COUNT;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ public MLTaskDispatcher(ClusterService clusterService, Client client) {
     public void dispatchTask(ActionListener<DiscoveryNode> listener) {
         // todo: add ML node type setting check
         // DiscoveryNode[] mlNodes = getEligibleMLNodes();
-        DiscoveryNode[] mlNodes = getEligibleDataNodes();
+        DiscoveryNode[] mlNodes = getEligibleNodes();
         MLStatsNodesRequest MLStatsNodesRequest = new MLStatsNodesRequest(mlNodes);
         MLStatsNodesRequest.addAll(ImmutableSet.of(ML_EXECUTING_TASK_COUNT, JVM_HEAP_USAGE.getName()));
 
@@ -120,14 +121,26 @@ private DiscoveryNode[] getEligibleMLNodes() {
         return eligibleNodes.toArray(new DiscoveryNode[0]);
     }
 
-    private DiscoveryNode[] getEligibleDataNodes() {
+    private DiscoveryNode[] getEligibleNodes() {
         ClusterState state = this.clusterService.state();
+        final List<DiscoveryNode> eligibleMLNodes = new ArrayList<>();
         final List<DiscoveryNode> eligibleDataNodes = new ArrayList<>();
         for (DiscoveryNode node : state.nodes()) {
+            if (MLNodeUtils.isMLNode(node)) {
+                eligibleMLNodes.add(node);
+            }
             if (node.isDataNode()) {
                 eligibleDataNodes.add(node);
             }
         }
-        return eligibleDataNodes.toArray(new DiscoveryNode[0]);
+        if (eligibleMLNodes.size() > 0) {
+            DiscoveryNode[] mlNodes = eligibleMLNodes.toArray(new DiscoveryNode[0]);
+            log.info("We have {} dedicated ML nodes: {}", eligibleMLNodes.size(), Arrays.toString(mlNodes));
+            return mlNodes;
+        } else {
+            DiscoveryNode[] dataNodes = eligibleDataNodes.toArray(new DiscoveryNode[0]);
+            log.info("We have no dedicated ML nodes. But have {} data nodes: {}", eligibleDataNodes.size(), Arrays.toString(dataNodes));
+            return dataNodes;
+        }
     }
 }