diff --git a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/messaging/TraceChannelInterceptor.java b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/messaging/TraceChannelInterceptor.java
index 3b354022e..28a7c3611 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/messaging/TraceChannelInterceptor.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/messaging/TraceChannelInterceptor.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.springframework.aop.support.AopUtils;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory;
-import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.Log;
 import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.Span;
 import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.sampler.NeverSampler;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.DirectChannel;
@@ -54,6 +53,9 @@ public class TraceChannelInterceptor extends AbstractTraceChannelInterceptor {
 	@Override
 	public void afterSendCompletion(Message<?> message, MessageChannel channel,
 			boolean sent, Exception ex) {
+		if (emptyMessage(message)) {
+			return;
+		}
 		if (isDirectChannel(channel)) {
 			afterMessageHandled(message, channel, null, ex);
 		}
@@ -81,20 +83,11 @@ public class TraceChannelInterceptor extends AbstractTraceChannelInterceptor {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private boolean containsServerReceived(Span span) {
-		if (span == null) {
-			return false;
-		}
-		for (Log log : span.logs()) {
-			if (Span.SERVER_RECV.equals(log.getEvent())) {
-				return true;
-			}
-		}
-		return false;
-	}
-
 	@Override
 	public Message<?> preSend(Message<?> message, MessageChannel channel) {
+		if (emptyMessage(message)) {
+			return message;
+		}
 		if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
 			log.debug("Processing message before sending it to the channel");
 		}
@@ -142,6 +135,9 @@ public class TraceChannelInterceptor extends AbstractTraceChannelInterceptor {
 
 	private Message<?> outputMessage(Message<?> message, MessageBuilder<?> messageBuilder,
 			MessageHeaderAccessor headers) {
+		if (emptyMessage(message)) {
+			return message;
+		}
 		if (message instanceof ErrorMessage) {
 			headers.copyHeaders(sleuthHeaders(messageBuilder.build().getHeaders()));
 			return new ErrorMessage((Throwable) message.getPayload(), headers.getMessageHeaders());
@@ -183,6 +179,9 @@ public class TraceChannelInterceptor extends AbstractTraceChannelInterceptor {
 	@Override
 	public Message<?> beforeHandle(Message<?> message, MessageChannel channel,
 			MessageHandler handler) {
+		if (emptyMessage(message)) {
+			return message;
+		}
 		Message<?> retrievedMessage = getMessage(message);
 		MessageBuilder<?> messageBuilder = MessageBuilder.fromMessage(retrievedMessage);
 		Span spanFromHeader = getTracer().isTracing() ? getTracer().getCurrentSpan()
@@ -206,6 +205,9 @@ public class TraceChannelInterceptor extends AbstractTraceChannelInterceptor {
 	@Override
 	public void afterMessageHandled(Message<?> message, MessageChannel channel,
 			MessageHandler handler, Exception ex) {
+		if (emptyMessage(message)) {
+			return;
+		}
 		Span spanFromHeader = getTracer().getCurrentSpan();
 		if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
 			log.debug("Continuing span " + spanFromHeader + " after message handled");
@@ -226,27 +228,13 @@ public class TraceChannelInterceptor extends AbstractTraceChannelInterceptor {
 		}
 	}
 
-	@Override public void postSend(Message<?> message, MessageChannel channel,
-			boolean sent) {
-		super.postSend(message, channel, sent);
-	}
-
-	@Override public boolean preReceive(MessageChannel channel) {
-		return super.preReceive(channel);
-	}
-
-	@Override public Message<?> postReceive(Message<?> message, MessageChannel channel) {
-		return super.postReceive(message, channel);
-	}
-
-	@Override public void afterReceiveCompletion(Message<?> message,
-			MessageChannel channel, Exception ex) {
-		super.afterReceiveCompletion(message, channel, ex);
-	}
-
 	private void addErrorTag(Exception ex) {
 		if (ex != null) {
 			getErrorParser().parseErrorTags(getTracer().getCurrentSpan(), ex);
 		}
 	}
+
+	private boolean emptyMessage(Message<?> message) {
+		return message == null || message.getPayload() == null;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/messaging/TraceChannelInterceptorTests.java b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/messaging/TraceChannelInterceptorTests.java
index f9db4af6d..97b5b7170 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/messaging/TraceChannelInterceptorTests.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/messaging/TraceChannelInterceptorTests.java
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.SerializationUtils;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.BDDAssertions.then;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
 import static org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.assertions.SleuthAssertions.then;
 
 /**
@@ -109,6 +110,9 @@ public class TraceChannelInterceptorTests implements MessageHandler {
 	@Autowired
 	private ArrayListSpanAccumulator accumulator;
 
+	@Autowired
+	private TraceChannelInterceptor interceptor;
+
 	private Message<?> message;
 
 	private Span span;
@@ -140,6 +144,21 @@ public class TraceChannelInterceptorTests implements MessageHandler {
 		this.accumulator.getSpans().clear();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void shouldWorkForEmptyQueue() {
+		this.interceptor.beforeHandle(null, null, null);
+		this.interceptor.afterMessageHandled(null, null, null, null);
+		this.interceptor.afterSendCompletion(null, null, true, null);
+		this.interceptor.preSend(null, null);
+
+		thenNoSpanReported();
+	}
+
+	private void thenNoSpanReported() {
+		then(TestSpanContextHolder.getCurrentSpan()).isNull();
+		then(this.accumulator.getSpans()).isEmpty();
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void shouldWorkForQueue() {
 		this.queueChannel.send(MessageBuilder.withPayload("hi").build());