diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/http/functions/ParseFirstJsonValueNamed.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/http/functions/ParseFirstJsonValueNamed.java
index ccd058a898..52d98885a1 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/http/functions/ParseFirstJsonValueNamed.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/http/functions/ParseFirstJsonValueNamed.java
@@ -27,8 +27,11 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
+import javax.annotation.Resource;
+
 import org.jclouds.http.HttpResponse;
 import org.jclouds.json.internal.GsonWrapper;
+import org.jclouds.logging.Logger;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
@@ -44,6 +47,9 @@ import com.google.inject.TypeLiteral;
  */
 public class ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<T> implements Function<HttpResponse, T> {
 
+   @Resource
+   protected Logger logger = Logger.NULL;
+
    private final GsonWrapper json;
    private final TypeLiteral<T> type;
    private final String name;
@@ -68,8 +74,11 @@ public class ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<T> implements Function<HttpResponse, T> {
          for (; token != JsonToken.END_DOCUMENT && nnn(this.name, reader, token, name); token = skipAndPeek(token,
                reader))
             ;
-         if (name.get().equals(this.name)) {
-            return json.delegate().<T>fromJson(reader, type.getType());
+         if (name.get() == null) {
+            logger.trace("did not object named %s in json from response %s", this.name, arg0);
+            return nothing();
+         } else if (name.get().equals(this.name)) {
+            return json.delegate().<T> fromJson(reader, type.getType());
          } else {
             return nothing();
          }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/http/functions/ParseFirstJsonValueNamedTest.java b/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/http/functions/ParseFirstJsonValueNamedTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0f043bc8b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/http/functions/ParseFirstJsonValueNamedTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to jclouds, Inc. (jclouds) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  jclouds licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.jclouds.http.functions;
+
+import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import org.jclouds.http.HttpResponse;
+import org.jclouds.io.Payloads;
+import org.jclouds.json.config.GsonModule;
+import org.jclouds.json.internal.GsonWrapper;
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
+import com.google.inject.Guice;
+import com.google.inject.TypeLiteral;
+
+/**
+ * 
+ * @author Adrian Cole
+ */
+@Test(testName = "ParseFirstJsonValueNamedTest")
+public class ParseFirstJsonValueNamedTest {
+
+   GsonWrapper json = Guice.createInjector(new GsonModule()).getInstance(GsonWrapper.class);
+
+   static class Event {
+      private String name;
+      private String source;
+
+      private Event(String name, String source) {
+         this.name = name;
+         this.source = source;
+      }
+
+      @Override
+      public String toString() {
+         return String.format("(name=%s, source=%s)", name, source);
+      }
+   }
+
+   public void testParseNestedElements() throws IOException {
+      String nested = "{ \"count\":1 ,\"event\" : [  {name:'GREETINGS',source:'guest'} ] }";
+      HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.builder().statusCode(200).message("goodie")
+            .payload(Payloads.newPayload(nested)).build();
+
+      List<Event> val = new ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<List<Event>>(json, new TypeLiteral<List<Event>>() {
+      }, "event").apply(response);
+      assertEquals(val.toString(), "[(name=GREETINGS, source=guest)]");
+   }
+
+   public void testParseNestedElementsWhenNotFoundIsEmpty() throws IOException {
+      String nested = "{ \"count\":1 ,\"evant\" : [  {name:'GREETINGS',source:'guest'} ] }";
+      HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.builder().statusCode(200).message("goodie")
+            .payload(Payloads.newPayload(nested)).build();
+
+      List<Event> val = new ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<List<Event>>(json, new TypeLiteral<List<Event>>() {
+      }, "event").apply(response);
+      assertEquals(val.toString(), "[]");
+   }
+
+   public void testParseNestedElementsButNothing() throws IOException {
+      String nested = "{ \"count\":1 ,\"event\" : [  ] }";
+      HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.builder().statusCode(200).message("goodie")
+            .payload(Payloads.newPayload(nested)).build();
+
+      List<Event> val = new ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<List<Event>>(json, new TypeLiteral<List<Event>>() {
+      }, "event").apply(response);
+      assertEquals(val.toString(), "[]");
+   }
+
+   public void testParseNestedFurtherElements() throws IOException {
+      String nestedFurther = "{ \"listaccountsresponse\" : { \"count\":1 ,\"event\" : [  {name:'GREETINGS',source:'guest'} ] } }";
+      HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.builder().statusCode(200).message("goodie")
+            .payload(Payloads.newPayload(nestedFurther)).build();
+
+      List<Event> val = new ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<List<Event>>(json, new TypeLiteral<List<Event>>() {
+      }, "event").apply(response);
+      assertEquals(val.toString(), "[(name=GREETINGS, source=guest)]");
+   }
+
+   public void testParseNestedFurtherElementsButNothing() throws IOException {
+      String nestedFurther = "{ \"listaccountsresponse\" : { \"count\":1 ,\"event\" : [ ] } }";
+      HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.builder().statusCode(200).message("goodie")
+            .payload(Payloads.newPayload(nestedFurther)).build();
+
+      List<Event> val = new ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<List<Event>>(json, new TypeLiteral<List<Event>>() {
+      }, "event").apply(response);
+      assertEquals(val.toString(), "[]");
+   }
+
+   public void testParseNoPayloadEmptyList() throws IOException {
+      HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.builder().statusCode(200).message("goodie").build();
+
+      List<Event> val = new ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<List<Event>>(json, new TypeLiteral<List<Event>>() {
+      }, "event").apply(response);
+      assertEquals(val, ImmutableList.<Event> of());
+   }
+
+   public void testParseNoPayloadEmptyMap() throws IOException {
+      HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.builder().statusCode(200).message("goodie").build();
+
+      Map<String, String> val = new ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<Map<String, String>>(json,
+            new TypeLiteral<Map<String, String>>() {
+            }, "event").apply(response);
+      assertEquals(val, ImmutableMap.<String, String> of());
+   }
+
+   public void testParseNoPayloadEmptySet() throws IOException {
+      HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.builder().statusCode(200).message("goodie").build();
+
+      Set<Event> val = new ParseFirstJsonValueNamed<Set<Event>>(json, new TypeLiteral<Set<Event>>() {
+      }, "event").apply(response);
+      assertEquals(val, ImmutableSet.<Event> of());
+   }
+}