Embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for determining an elected search head captain is unqualified for the position, identifying a more qualified search head, and transferring the captain position to the more qualified search head. A method is provided that includes referencing qualification parameters in an elected search head captain, determining whether the newly elected search head captain is qualified for the position based on the parameters, identifying a more qualified search head to be the search head captain if the newly elected search head captain is determined to be unqualified for the position, and transferring the position of captain to the more qualified search head. The qualification parameters may include, for example, a pre-determined static flag set by an administrator of the search environment, and configuration replication status that corresponds to the most recent configuration state of the search head as recorded by the previous search head captain.