diff --git a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/HierarchicalShardSyncer.java b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/HierarchicalShardSyncer.java
index b3cfdb56..4f677524 100644
--- a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/HierarchicalShardSyncer.java
+++ b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/HierarchicalShardSyncer.java
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ public class HierarchicalShardSyncer {
     /**
      * Check and create leases for any new shards (e.g. following a reshard operation). Sync leases with Kinesis shards
      * (e.g. at startup, or when we reach end of a shard).
+     * Return true, if shard sync was performed. Return false, if shard sync is skipped.
      *
      * @param shardDetector
      * @param leaseRefresher
@@ -109,18 +110,18 @@ public class HierarchicalShardSyncer {
      * @throws KinesisClientLibIOException
      */
     // CHECKSTYLE:OFF CyclomaticComplexity
-    public synchronized void checkAndCreateLeaseForNewShards(@NonNull final ShardDetector shardDetector,
+    public synchronized boolean checkAndCreateLeaseForNewShards(@NonNull final ShardDetector shardDetector,
             final LeaseRefresher leaseRefresher, final InitialPositionInStreamExtended initialPosition,
             final MetricsScope scope, final boolean ignoreUnexpectedChildShards, final boolean isLeaseTableEmpty)
             throws DependencyException, InvalidStateException, ProvisionedThroughputException, KinesisClientLibIOException, InterruptedException {
         final List<Shard> latestShards = isLeaseTableEmpty ?
                 getShardListAtInitialPosition(shardDetector, initialPosition) : getShardList(shardDetector);
-        checkAndCreateLeaseForNewShards(shardDetector, leaseRefresher, initialPosition, latestShards, ignoreUnexpectedChildShards, scope,
+        return checkAndCreateLeaseForNewShards(shardDetector, leaseRefresher, initialPosition, latestShards, ignoreUnexpectedChildShards, scope,
                 isLeaseTableEmpty);
     }
 
     //Provide a pre-collcted list of shards to avoid calling ListShards API
-    public synchronized void checkAndCreateLeaseForNewShards(@NonNull final ShardDetector shardDetector,
+    public synchronized boolean checkAndCreateLeaseForNewShards(@NonNull final ShardDetector shardDetector,
             final LeaseRefresher leaseRefresher, final InitialPositionInStreamExtended initialPosition,
             List<Shard> latestShards, final boolean ignoreUnexpectedChildShards, final MetricsScope scope, final boolean isLeaseTableEmpty)
             throws DependencyException, InvalidStateException, ProvisionedThroughputException, KinesisClientLibIOException {
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ public class HierarchicalShardSyncer {
             log.debug("{} - Num shards: {}", streamIdentifier, latestShards.size());
         } else {
             log.warn("Skipping shard sync for {} as no shards found from service.", streamIdentifier);
-            return;
+            return false;
         }
 
         final Map<String, Shard> shardIdToShardMap = constructShardIdToShardMap(latestShards);
@@ -161,6 +162,7 @@ public class HierarchicalShardSyncer {
         }
         final List<Lease> trackedLeases = new ArrayList<>(currentLeases);
         trackedLeases.addAll(newLeasesToCreate);
+        return true;
     }
 
     /** Helper method to detect a race condition between fetching the shards via paginated DescribeStream calls
diff --git a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/ShardSyncTask.java b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/ShardSyncTask.java
index 820d4528..dd576114 100644
--- a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/ShardSyncTask.java
+++ b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/ShardSyncTask.java
@@ -67,11 +67,11 @@ public class ShardSyncTask implements ConsumerTask {
         boolean shardSyncSuccess = true;
 
         try {
-            hierarchicalShardSyncer.checkAndCreateLeaseForNewShards(shardDetector, leaseRefresher,
+            boolean didPerformShardSync = hierarchicalShardSyncer.checkAndCreateLeaseForNewShards(shardDetector, leaseRefresher,
                     initialPosition, scope, ignoreUnexpectedChildShards,
                     leaseRefresher.isLeaseTableEmpty());
 
-            if (shardSyncTaskIdleTimeMillis > 0) {
+            if (didPerformShardSync && shardSyncTaskIdleTimeMillis > 0) {
                 Thread.sleep(shardSyncTaskIdleTimeMillis);
             }
         } catch (Exception e) {