diff --git a/lib/common_passwords/common_passwords.rb b/lib/common_passwords/common_passwords.rb
index 885290f5087..e2f9b3e600e 100644
--- a/lib/common_passwords/common_passwords.rb
+++ b/lib/common_passwords/common_passwords.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class CommonPasswords
 
     def self.password_list
       @mutex.synchronize do
-        load_passwords unless redis.exists(LIST_KEY)
+        load_passwords unless redis.scard(LIST_KEY) > 0
       end
       RedisPasswordList.new
     end
diff --git a/spec/components/common_passwords/common_passwords_spec.rb b/spec/components/common_passwords/common_passwords_spec.rb
index 35513f7a424..fc7e101c81e 100644
--- a/spec/components/common_passwords/common_passwords_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/common_passwords/common_passwords_spec.rb
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ describe CommonPasswords do
     it "loads the passwords file if redis doesn't have it" do
       mock_redis = mock("redis")
       mock_redis.stubs(:exists).returns(false)
+      mock_redis.stubs(:scard).returns(0)
       described_class.stubs(:redis).returns(mock_redis)
-      described_class.expects(:load_passwords).returns([])
+      described_class.expects(:load_passwords).returns(['password'])
       list = described_class.password_list
       list.should respond_to(:include?)
     end
@@ -50,16 +51,27 @@ describe CommonPasswords do
     it "doesn't load the passwords file if redis has it" do
       mock_redis = mock("redis")
       mock_redis.stubs(:exists).returns(true)
+      mock_redis.stubs(:scard).returns(5000)
       described_class.stubs(:redis).returns(mock_redis)
       described_class.expects(:load_passwords).never
       list = described_class.password_list
       list.should respond_to(:include?)
     end
+
+    it "loads the passwords file if redis has an empty list" do
+      mock_redis = mock("redis")
+      mock_redis.stubs(:exists).returns(true)
+      mock_redis.stubs(:scard).returns(0)
+      described_class.stubs(:redis).returns(mock_redis)
+      described_class.expects(:load_passwords).returns(['password'])
+      list = described_class.password_list
+      list.should respond_to(:include?)
+    end
   end
 
   context "missing password file" do
     it "tolerates it" do
-      described_class.stubs(:redis).returns(stub_everything(sismember: false))
+      described_class.stubs(:redis).returns(stub_everything(sismember: false, exists: false, scard: 0))
       File.stubs(:readlines).with(described_class::PASSWORD_FILE).raises(Errno::ENOENT)
       described_class.common_password?("password").should eq(false)
     end