diff --git a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/BinaryRequestWriter.java b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/BinaryRequestWriter.java
index 1f32e073929..ee961ef553a 100644
--- a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/BinaryRequestWriter.java
+++ b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/BinaryRequestWriter.java
@@ -40,12 +40,7 @@ public class BinaryRequestWriter extends RequestWriter {
   public ContentWriter getContentWriter(SolrRequest req) {
     if (req instanceof UpdateRequest) {
       UpdateRequest updateRequest = (UpdateRequest) req;
-      if (isNull(updateRequest.getDocuments()) &&
-          isNull(updateRequest.getDeleteByIdMap()) &&
-          isNull(updateRequest.getDeleteQuery())
-          && (updateRequest.getDocIterator() == null)) {
-        return null;
-      }
+      if (isEmpty(updateRequest)) return null;
       return new ContentWriter() {
         @Override
         public void write(OutputStream os) throws IOException {
@@ -66,12 +61,7 @@ public class BinaryRequestWriter extends RequestWriter {
   public Collection<ContentStream> getContentStreams(SolrRequest req) throws IOException {
     if (req instanceof UpdateRequest) {
       UpdateRequest updateRequest = (UpdateRequest) req;
-      if (isNull(updateRequest.getDocuments()) &&
-              isNull(updateRequest.getDeleteByIdMap()) &&
-              isNull(updateRequest.getDeleteQuery())
-              && (updateRequest.getDocIterator() == null) ) {
-        return null;
-      }
+      if (isEmpty(updateRequest) ) return null;
       throw new RuntimeException("This Should not happen");
     } else {
       return super.getContentStreams(req);
diff --git a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/request/RequestWriter.java b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/request/RequestWriter.java
index 8cefa0b303d..d83ca911ee2 100644
--- a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/request/RequestWriter.java
+++ b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/request/RequestWriter.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public class RequestWriter {
     return req.getContentStreams();
   }
 
-  private boolean isEmpty(UpdateRequest updateRequest) {
+  protected boolean isEmpty(UpdateRequest updateRequest) {
     return isNull(updateRequest.getDocuments()) &&
             isNull(updateRequest.getDeleteByIdMap()) &&
             isNull(updateRequest.getDeleteQuery()) &&