diff --git a/controllers/gce/controller/controller.go b/controllers/gce/controller/controller.go
index cf04c7eb2..c5f72f5d7 100644
--- a/controllers/gce/controller/controller.go
+++ b/controllers/gce/controller/controller.go
@@ -379,17 +379,18 @@ func (lbc *LoadBalancerController) updateIngressStatus(l7 *loadbalancers.L7, ing
 			},
 		},
 	}
-	lbIPs := ing.Status.LoadBalancer.Ingress
-	if len(lbIPs) == 0 && ip != "" || lbIPs[0].IP != ip {
-		// TODO: If this update fails it's probably resource version related,
-		// which means it's advantageous to retry right away vs requeuing.
-		glog.Infof("Updating loadbalancer %v/%v with IP %v", ing.Namespace, ing.Name, ip)
-		if _, err := ingClient.UpdateStatus(currIng); err != nil {
-			return err
+	if ip != "" {
+		lbIPs := ing.Status.LoadBalancer.Ingress
+		if len(lbIPs) == 0 || lbIPs[0].IP != ip {
+			// TODO: If this update fails it's probably resource version related,
+			// which means it's advantageous to retry right away vs requeuing.
+			glog.Infof("Updating loadbalancer %v/%v with IP %v", ing.Namespace, ing.Name, ip)
+			if _, err := ingClient.UpdateStatus(currIng); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			lbc.recorder.Eventf(currIng, api.EventTypeNormal, "CREATE", "ip: %v", ip)
 		}
-		lbc.recorder.Eventf(currIng, api.EventTypeNormal, "CREATE", "ip: %v", ip)
 	}
-
 	// Update annotations through /update endpoint
 	currIng, err = ingClient.Get(ing.Name)
 	if err != nil {