diff --git a/src/main/java/hello/HelloController.java b/src/main/java/hello/HelloController.java
index 882c6fd..166cfbe 100644
--- a/src/main/java/hello/HelloController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/hello/HelloController.java
@@ -69,8 +69,10 @@ public class HelloController {
     @Consumes(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED)
     public HttpResponse<?> ping(String message) {
         log.info(message);
-        counter++;
-        msgDeque.push(message);
+        if(!message.isEmpty()) {
+            counter++;
+            msgDeque.push(message);
+        }
         if(msgDeque.size() > 25) {
             log.debug("Message deque: {}", msgDeque.size());
             msgDeque.removeLast();