diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/device/impl/GossipDeviceStore.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/device/impl/GossipDeviceStore.java
index 333531e..53809d1 100644
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/device/impl/GossipDeviceStore.java
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/device/impl/GossipDeviceStore.java
@@ -586,7 +586,7 @@
             // Only forward for ConfigProvider
             // Forwarding was added as a workaround for ONOS-490
             if (!providerId.scheme().equals("cfg")) {
-                return null;
+                return Collections.emptyList();
             }
             // FIXME Temporary hack for NPE (ONOS-1171).
             // Proper fix is to implement forwarding to master on ConfigProvider