diff --git a/spring-cloud-consul-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/consul/config/ConfigWatch.java b/spring-cloud-consul-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/consul/config/ConfigWatch.java
index a5109761..3cf0b794 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-consul-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/consul/config/ConfigWatch.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-consul-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/consul/config/ConfigWatch.java
@@ -82,15 +82,19 @@ public class ConfigWatch implements Closeable, ApplicationEventPublisherAware {
 
 					Response<List<GetValue>> response = this.consul.getKVValues(context, new QueryParams(2, currentIndex));
 
-					Long newIndex = response.getConsulIndex();
+					// if response.value == null, response was a 404, otherwise it was a 200
+					// reducing churn if there wasn't anything
+					if (response.getValue() != null && !response.getValue().isEmpty()) {
+						Long newIndex = response.getConsulIndex();
 
-					if (newIndex != null && !newIndex.equals(currentIndex)) {
-						// don't publish the same index again, don't publish the first time (-1) so index can be primed
-						if (!this.consulIndexes.containsValue(newIndex) && !currentIndex.equals(-1L)) {
-							RefreshEventData data = new RefreshEventData(context, currentIndex, newIndex);
-							this.publisher.publishEvent(new RefreshEvent(this, data, data.toString()));
+						if (newIndex != null && !newIndex.equals(currentIndex)) {
+							// don't publish the same index again, don't publish the first time (-1) so index can be primed
+							if (!this.consulIndexes.containsValue(newIndex) && !currentIndex.equals(-1L)) {
+								RefreshEventData data = new RefreshEventData(context, currentIndex, newIndex);
+								this.publisher.publishEvent(new RefreshEvent(this, data, data.toString()));
+							}
+							this.consulIndexes.put(context, newIndex);
 						}
-						this.consulIndexes.put(context, newIndex);
 					}
 
 				} catch (Exception e) {
@@ -115,6 +119,10 @@ public class ConfigWatch implements Closeable, ApplicationEventPublisherAware {
 		this.running.compareAndSet(true, false);
 	}
 
+	/* for testing */ HashMap<String, Long> getConsulIndexes() {
+		return this.consulIndexes;
+	}
+
 	@Data
 	static class RefreshEventData {
 		private final String context;
diff --git a/spring-cloud-consul-config/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/consul/config/ConfigWatchTests.java b/spring-cloud-consul-config/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/consul/config/ConfigWatchTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37d2f0b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-cloud-consul-config/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/consul/config/ConfigWatchTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013-2016 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.cloud.consul.config;
+
+import com.ecwid.consul.v1.ConsulClient;
+import com.ecwid.consul.v1.QueryParams;
+import com.ecwid.consul.v1.Response;
+import com.ecwid.consul.v1.kv.model.GetValue;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.cloud.endpoint.event.RefreshEvent;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationEventPublisher;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static org.mockito.Matchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.Matchers.eq;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+/**
+ * @author Spencer Gibb
+ */
+public class ConfigWatchTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void watchPublishesEvent() {
+		ApplicationEventPublisher eventPublisher = mock(ApplicationEventPublisher.class);
+
+		setupWatch(eventPublisher, new GetValue());
+
+		verify(eventPublisher, times(1)).publishEvent(any(RefreshEvent.class));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void watchWithNullValueDoesNotPublishEvent() {
+		ApplicationEventPublisher eventPublisher = mock(ApplicationEventPublisher.class);
+
+		setupWatch(eventPublisher, null);
+
+		verify(eventPublisher, never()).publishEvent(any(RefreshEvent.class));
+	}
+
+	private void setupWatch(ApplicationEventPublisher eventPublisher, GetValue getValue) {
+		ConsulClient consul = mock(ConsulClient.class);
+		List<GetValue> getValues = null;
+
+		if (getValue != null) {
+			getValues = Arrays.asList(getValue);
+		}
+
+		Response<List<GetValue>> response = new Response<>(getValues, 1L, false, 1L);
+		when(consul.getKVValues(eq("/app/"), any(QueryParams.class))).thenReturn(response);
+
+		ConfigWatch watch = new ConfigWatch(new ConsulConfigProperties(), Arrays.asList("/app/"), consul);
+		watch.setApplicationEventPublisher(eventPublisher);
+		watch.getConsulIndexes().put("/app/", 0L);
+		watch.start();
+
+		watch.watchConfigKeyValues();
+	}
+
+}