diff --git a/headless-services/boot-java-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/BootJavaLanguageServer.java b/headless-services/boot-java-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/BootJavaLanguageServer.java
index b79c2d4a7..e82a24b9c 100644
--- a/headless-services/boot-java-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/BootJavaLanguageServer.java
+++ b/headless-services/boot-java-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/BootJavaLanguageServer.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*******************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2016, 2017 Pivotal, Inc.
+ * Copyright (c) 2016, 2018 Pivotal, Inc.
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ public class BootJavaLanguageServer extends SimpleLanguageServer {
 				getClient().highlight(new HighlightParams(params.getDocument().getId(), testHightlighter.apply(doc)));
 			} else {
 				liveHoverWatchdog.watchDocument(doc.getUri());
-				liveHoverWatchdog.update(doc.getUri());
+				liveHoverWatchdog.update(doc.getUri(), null);
 			}
 		});
 
diff --git a/headless-services/boot-java-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/utils/SpringLiveHoverWatchdog.java b/headless-services/boot-java-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/utils/SpringLiveHoverWatchdog.java
index c3adb2696..1197ddc67 100644
--- a/headless-services/boot-java-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/utils/SpringLiveHoverWatchdog.java
+++ b/headless-services/boot-java-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/utils/SpringLiveHoverWatchdog.java
@@ -137,15 +137,25 @@ public class SpringLiveHoverWatchdog {
 		refreshEnablement();
 	}
 
-	public void update(String docURI) {
+	public void update(String docURI, SpringBootApp[] runningBootApps) {
 		if (highlightsEnabled) {
+
 			try {
-				SpringBootApp[] runningBootApps = runningAppProvider.getAllRunningSpringApps().toArray(new SpringBootApp[0]);
-				TextDocument doc = this.server.getTextDocumentService().get(docURI);
-				if (doc != null) {
-					Range[] ranges = this.hoverProvider.getLiveHoverHints(doc, runningBootApps);
-					publishLiveHints(docURI, ranges);
+				if (runningBootApps == null) {
+					runningBootApps = runningAppProvider.getAllRunningSpringApps().toArray(new SpringBootApp[0]);
 				}
+
+				if (runningBootApps != null && runningBootApps.length > 0) {
+					TextDocument doc = this.server.getTextDocumentService().get(docURI);
+					if (doc != null) {
+						Range[] ranges = this.hoverProvider.getLiveHoverHints(doc, runningBootApps);
+						publishLiveHints(docURI, ranges);
+					}
+				}
+				else {
+					cleanupLiveHints(docURI);
+				}
+
 			} catch (Exception e) {
 				e.printStackTrace();
 			}
@@ -154,8 +164,13 @@ public class SpringLiveHoverWatchdog {
 
 	protected void update() {
 		if (this.watchedDocs.size() > 0) {
-			for (String docURI : watchedDocs) {
-				update(docURI);
+			try {
+				SpringBootApp[] runningBootApps = runningAppProvider.getAllRunningSpringApps().toArray(new SpringBootApp[0]);
+				for (String docURI : watchedDocs) {
+					update(docURI, runningBootApps);
+				}
+			} catch (Exception e) {
+				e.printStackTrace();
 			}
 		}
 	}