diff --git a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/coordinator/Scheduler.java b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/coordinator/Scheduler.java
index 85234f7f..395882d9 100644
--- a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/coordinator/Scheduler.java
+++ b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/coordinator/Scheduler.java
@@ -363,14 +363,14 @@ public class Scheduler implements Runnable {
         long waitTime = ThreadLocalRandom.current().nextLong(MIN_WAIT_TIME_FOR_LEASE_TABLE_CHECK_MILLIS, MAX_WAIT_TIME_FOR_LEASE_TABLE_CHECK_MILLIS);
         long waitUntil = System.currentTimeMillis() + waitTime;
 
-        boolean isLeaseTableEmpty = true;
-        while (System.currentTimeMillis() < waitUntil && (isLeaseTableEmpty = leaseRefresher.isLeaseTableEmpty())) {
+        boolean shouldInitiateLeaseSync = true;
+        while (System.currentTimeMillis() < waitUntil && (shouldInitiateLeaseSync = leaseRefresher.isLeaseTableEmpty())) {
             // check every 3 seconds if lease table is still empty,
             // to minimize contention between all workers bootstrapping at the same time
             log.info("Lease table is still empty. Checking again in {} ms", LEASE_TABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_MILLIS);
             Thread.sleep(LEASE_TABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_MILLIS);
         }
-        return isLeaseTableEmpty;
+        return shouldInitiateLeaseSync;
     }
 
     private void waitUntilHashRangeCovered() throws InterruptedException {
diff --git a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/test/java/software/amazon/kinesis/coordinator/DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDeciderTest.java b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/test/java/software/amazon/kinesis/coordinator/DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDeciderTest.java
index b6ff3a0d..2e228a8a 100644
--- a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/test/java/software/amazon/kinesis/coordinator/DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDeciderTest.java
+++ b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/test/java/software/amazon/kinesis/coordinator/DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDeciderTest.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.mockito.Matchers.booleanThat;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 import static software.amazon.kinesis.coordinator.DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDecider.DETERMINISTIC_SHUFFLE_SEED;
 
@@ -72,10 +73,18 @@ public class DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDeciderTest {
         assertTrue("IsLeader should return true if no leases are returned", isLeader);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testleaderElectionWithEmptyOwnerLeases() throws Exception {
+        List<Lease> leases = getLeases(5, true, true, true);
+        when(leaseRefresher.listLeases()).thenReturn(leases);
+        boolean isLeader = leaderDecider.isLeader(WORKER_ID);
+        assertTrue("IsLeader should return false if leases have no owner", isLeader);
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testElectedLeadersAsPerExpectedShufflingOrder()
             throws Exception {
-        List<Lease> leases = getLeases(5, false /* duplicateLeaseOwner */, true /* activeLeases */);
+        List<Lease> leases = getLeases(5, false /*emptyLeaseOwner */,false /* duplicateLeaseOwner */, true /* activeLeases */);
         when(leaseRefresher.listLeases()).thenReturn(leases);
         Set<String> expectedLeaders = getExpectedLeaders(leases);
         for (String leader : expectedLeaders) {
@@ -92,7 +101,7 @@ public class DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDeciderTest {
     public void testElectedLeadersAsPerExpectedShufflingOrderWhenUniqueWorkersLessThanMaxLeaders() {
         this.numShardSyncWorkers = 5; // More than number of unique lease owners
         leaderDecider = new DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDecider(leaseRefresher, scheduledExecutorService, numShardSyncWorkers);
-        List<Lease> leases = getLeases(3, false /* duplicateLeaseOwner */, true /* activeLeases */);
+        List<Lease> leases = getLeases(3, false /*emptyLeaseOwner */, false /* duplicateLeaseOwner */, true /* activeLeases */);
         Set<String> expectedLeaders = getExpectedLeaders(leases);
         // All lease owners should be present in expected leaders set, and they should all be leaders.
         for (Lease lease : leases) {
@@ -101,14 +110,16 @@ public class DeterministicShuffleShardSyncLeaderDeciderTest {
         }
     }
 
-    private List<Lease> getLeases(int count, boolean duplicateLeaseOwner, boolean activeLeases) {
+    private List<Lease> getLeases(int count, boolean emptyLeaseOwner, boolean duplicateLeaseOwner, boolean activeLeases) {
         List<Lease> leases = new ArrayList<>();
         for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
             Lease lease = new Lease();
             lease.leaseKey(LEASE_KEY + i);
             lease.checkpoint(activeLeases ? ExtendedSequenceNumber.LATEST : ExtendedSequenceNumber.SHARD_END);
             lease.leaseCounter(new Random().nextLong());
-            lease.leaseOwner(LEASE_OWNER + (duplicateLeaseOwner ? "" : i));
+            if (!emptyLeaseOwner) {
+                lease.leaseOwner(LEASE_OWNER + (duplicateLeaseOwner ? "" : i));
+            }
             leases.add(lease);
         }
         return leases;