diff --git a/jetty-nosql/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/nosql/NoSqlSession.java b/jetty-nosql/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/nosql/NoSqlSession.java
index 9d361f8cdd6..1a1459a45a0 100644
--- a/jetty-nosql/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/nosql/NoSqlSession.java
+++ b/jetty-nosql/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/nosql/NoSqlSession.java
@@ -77,7 +77,11 @@ public class NoSqlSession extends AbstractSession
     @Override
     public void setAttribute(String name, Object value)
     {
-        if ( updateAttribute(name,value) )
+        Object old = changeAttribute(name,value);
+        if (value == null && old == null)
+            return; //not dirty, no change
+        
+        if (value==null || !value.equals(old))
         {
             if (_dirty==null)
             {
@@ -96,30 +100,7 @@ public class NoSqlSession extends AbstractSession
         super.timeout();
     }
 
-    /*
-     * a boolean version of the setAttribute method that lets us manage the _dirty set
-     */
-    protected boolean updateAttribute (String name, Object value)
-    {
-        Object old=null;
-        synchronized (this)
-        {
-            checkValid();
-            old=doPutOrRemove(name,value);
-        }
 
-        if (value==null || !value.equals(old))
-        {
-            if (old!=null)
-                unbindValue(name,old);
-            if (value!=null)
-                bindValue(name,value);
-
-            _manager.doSessionAttributeListeners(this,name,old,value);
-            return true;
-        }
-        return false;
-    }
     
     /* ------------------------------------------------------------ */
     @Override
diff --git a/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/session/AbstractSession.java b/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/session/AbstractSession.java
index 03cfd80d6e7..69ecf5306c3 100644
--- a/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/session/AbstractSession.java
+++ b/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/session/AbstractSession.java
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractSession implements AbstractSessionManager.SessionI
     @Override
     public void putValue(java.lang.String name, java.lang.Object value) throws IllegalStateException
     {
-        setAttribute(name,value);
+        changeAttribute(name,value);
     }
 
     /* ------------------------------------------------------------ */
@@ -481,10 +481,16 @@ public abstract class AbstractSession implements AbstractSessionManager.SessionI
     @Override
     public void setAttribute(String name, Object value)
     {
-        updateAttribute(name,value);
+        changeAttribute(name,value);
     }
     
     /* ------------------------------------------------------------ */
+    /**
+     * @param name
+     * @param value
+     * @deprecated use changeAttribute(String,Object) instead
+     * @return
+     */
     protected boolean updateAttribute (String name, Object value)
     {
         Object old=null;
@@ -506,6 +512,53 @@ public abstract class AbstractSession implements AbstractSessionManager.SessionI
         }
         return false;
     }
+    
+    
+    /* ------------------------------------------------------------ */
+    /**
+     * Either set (perhaps replace) or remove the value of the attribute
+     * in the session. The appropriate session attribute listeners are
+     * also called.
+     * 
+     * @param name
+     * @param value
+     * @return
+     */
+    protected Object changeAttribute (String name, Object value)
+    {
+        Object old=null;
+        synchronized (this)
+        {
+            checkValid();
+            old=doPutOrRemove(name,value);
+        }
+
+        callSessionAttributeListeners(name, value, old);
+
+        return old;
+    }
+
+    /* ------------------------------------------------------------ */
+    /**
+     * Call binding and attribute listeners based on the new and old
+     * values of the attribute.
+     * 
+     * @param name name of the attribute
+     * @param newValue  new value of the attribute
+     * @param oldValue previous value of the attribute
+     */
+    protected void callSessionAttributeListeners (String name, Object newValue, Object oldValue)
+    {
+        if (newValue==null || !newValue.equals(oldValue))
+        {
+            if (oldValue!=null)
+                unbindValue(name,oldValue);
+            if (newValue!=null)
+                bindValue(name,newValue);
+
+            _manager.doSessionAttributeListeners(this,name,oldValue,newValue);
+        }
+    }
 
     /* ------------------------------------------------------------ */
     protected void addAttributes(Map<String,Object> map)
diff --git a/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/session/JDBCSessionManager.java b/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/session/JDBCSessionManager.java
index e48a3b61303..4b6804669b8 100644
--- a/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/session/JDBCSessionManager.java
+++ b/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/session/JDBCSessionManager.java
@@ -246,15 +246,19 @@ public class JDBCSessionManager extends AbstractSessionManager
         @Override
         public void setAttribute (String name, Object value)
         {
-            updateAttribute(name, value);
+            Object old = changeAttribute(name, value);
+            if (value == null && old == null)
+                return; //if same as remove attribute but attribute was already removed, no change
+            
             _dirty = true;
         }
 
         @Override
         public void removeAttribute (String name)
         {
-            super.removeAttribute(name);
-            _dirty=true;
+            Object old = changeAttribute(name, null);
+            if (old != null) //only dirty if there was a previous value
+                _dirty=true;
         }
 
         @Override