diff --git a/geode-for-redis/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/redis/internal/data/RedisList.java b/geode-for-redis/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/redis/internal/data/RedisList.java
index 72c5f62e244b..c82a2aecc6ba 100644
--- a/geode-for-redis/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/redis/internal/data/RedisList.java
+++ b/geode-for-redis/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/redis/internal/data/RedisList.java
@@ -221,17 +221,18 @@ public List<byte[]> lrange(int start, int stop) {
    */
   public int lrem(int count, byte[] element, Region<RedisKey, RedisData> region, RedisKey key) {
     List<Integer> removedIndexes;
-    byte version;
+    byte newVersion;
     synchronized (this) {
       removedIndexes = elementList.remove(element, count);
-      version = incrementAndGetVersion();
-    }
+      if (removedIndexes.isEmpty()) {
+        return 0;
+      }
 
-    if (!removedIndexes.isEmpty()) {
-      storeChanges(region, key,
-          new RemoveElementsByIndex(version, removedIndexes));
+      newVersion = incrementAndGetVersion();
     }
 
+    storeChanges(region, key,
+        new RemoveElementsByIndex(newVersion, removedIndexes));
     return removedIndexes.size();
   }