diff --git a/src/change_processor.rs b/src/change_processor.rs
index dce1cd8d..ac9cb869 100644
--- a/src/change_processor.rs
+++ b/src/change_processor.rs
@@ -154,7 +154,9 @@ impl JobThreadContext {
 
                     for id in affected_ids {
                         if let Some(patch) = compute_and_apply_changes(&mut tree, &self.vfs, id) {
-                            applied_patches.push(patch);
+                            if !patch.is_empty() {
+                                applied_patches.push(patch);
+                            }
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -253,7 +255,9 @@ impl JobThreadContext {
             apply_patch_set(&mut tree, patch_set)
         };
 
-        self.message_queue.push_messages(&[applied_patch]);
+        if !applied_patch.is_empty() {
+            self.message_queue.push_messages(&[applied_patch]);
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/snapshot/patch.rs b/src/snapshot/patch.rs
index 1d320a2c..4413db59 100644
--- a/src/snapshot/patch.rs
+++ b/src/snapshot/patch.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ pub struct PatchSet {
     pub updated_instances: Vec<PatchUpdate>,
 }
 
-impl<'a> PatchSet {
+impl PatchSet {
     pub fn new() -> Self {
         PatchSet {
             removed_instances: Vec::new(),
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ impl AppliedPatchSet {
             updated: Vec::new(),
         }
     }
+
+    pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+        self.removed.is_empty() && self.added.is_empty() && self.updated.is_empty()
+    }
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]