diff --git a/concurrency-limits-core/src/main/java/com/netflix/concurrency/limits/limiter/LifoBlockingLimiter.java b/concurrency-limits-core/src/main/java/com/netflix/concurrency/limits/limiter/LifoBlockingLimiter.java
index 3eeed610..65a97edc 100644
--- a/concurrency-limits-core/src/main/java/com/netflix/concurrency/limits/limiter/LifoBlockingLimiter.java
+++ b/concurrency-limits-core/src/main/java/com/netflix/concurrency/limits/limiter/LifoBlockingLimiter.java
@@ -26,29 +26,29 @@
 import com.netflix.concurrency.limits.Limiter;
 
 /**
- * {@link Limiter} decorator that blocks the caller when the limit has been reached.  This 
+ * {@link Limiter} decorator that blocks the caller when the limit has been reached.  This
  * strategy ensures the resource is properly protected but favors availability over latency
  * by not fast failing requests when the limit has been reached.  To help keep success latencies
- * low and minimize timeouts any blocked requests are processed in last in/first out order.  
- * 
- * Use this limiter only when the threading model allows the limiter to be blocked. 
- * 
+ * low and minimize timeouts any blocked requests are processed in last in/first out order.
+ *
+ * Use this limiter only when the threading model allows the limiter to be blocked.
+ *
  * @param <ContextT>
  */
 public final class LifoBlockingLimiter<ContextT> implements Limiter<ContextT> {
     public static class Builder<ContextT> {
-        
+
         private final Limiter<ContextT> delegate;
         private int maxBacklogSize = 100;
         private Function<ContextT, Long> maxBacklogTimeoutMillis = context -> 1_000L;
-        
+
         private Builder(Limiter<ContextT> delegate) {
             this.delegate = delegate;
         }
 
         /**
          * Set maximum number of blocked threads
-         * 
+         *
          * @param size New max size.  Default is 100.
          * @return Chainable builder
          */
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public Builder<ContextT> maxBacklogSize(int size) {
         /**
          * Set maximum timeout for threads blocked on the limiter.
          * Default is 1 second.
-         * 
+         *
          * @param timeout
          * @param units
          * @return Chainable builder
@@ -76,11 +76,11 @@ public Builder<ContextT> maxBacklogSize(int size) {
         public Builder<ContextT> backlogTimeout(long timeout, TimeUnit units) {
             return backlogTimeoutMillis(units.toMillis(timeout));
         }
-        
+
         /**
          * Set maximum timeout for threads blocked on the limiter.
          * Default is 1 second.
-         * 
+         *
          * @param timeout
          * @return Chainable builder
          */
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ public Builder<ContextT> backlogTimeoutMillis(long timeout) {
 
         /**
          * Function to derive the backlog timeout from the request context.  This allows timeouts
-         * to be set dynamically based on things like request deadlines. 
+         * to be set dynamically based on things like request deadlines.
          * @param mapper
          * @param units
          * @return
@@ -105,18 +105,18 @@ public LifoBlockingLimiter<ContextT> build() {
             return new LifoBlockingLimiter<ContextT>(this);
         }
     }
-    
+
     public static <ContextT> Builder<ContextT> newBuilder(Limiter<ContextT> delegate) {
         return new Builder<ContextT>(delegate);
     }
-    
+
     private final Limiter<ContextT> delegate;
-    
+
     private static class ListenerHolder<ContextT> {
-        private volatile Optional<Listener> listener;
+        private volatile Optional<Listener> listener = Optional.empty();
         private final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
         private ContextT context;
-        
+
         public ListenerHolder(ContextT context) {
             this.context = context;
         }
@@ -124,40 +124,40 @@ public ListenerHolder(ContextT context) {
         public boolean await(long timeout, TimeUnit unit) throws InterruptedException {
             return latch.await(timeout, unit);
         }
-        
+
         public void set(Optional<Listener> listener) {
             this.listener = listener;
             latch.countDown();
         }
-        
+
     }
-    
+
     /**
      * Lock used to block and unblock callers as the limit is reached
      */
     private final Deque<ListenerHolder<ContextT>> backlog = new LinkedList<>();
-    
+
     private final AtomicInteger backlogCounter = new AtomicInteger();
-    
+
     private final int backlogSize;
-    
+
     private final Function<ContextT, Long> backlogTimeoutMillis;
-    
+
     private final Object lock = new Object();
-    
+
     private LifoBlockingLimiter(Builder<ContextT> builder) {
         this.delegate = builder.delegate;
         this.backlogSize = builder.maxBacklogSize;
         this.backlogTimeoutMillis = builder.maxBacklogTimeoutMillis;
     }
-    
+
     private Optional<Listener> tryAcquire(ContextT context) {
         // Try to acquire a token and return immediately if successful
         final Optional<Listener> listener = delegate.acquire(context);
         if (listener.isPresent()) {
             return listener;
         }
-        
+
         // Restrict backlog size so the queue doesn't grow unbounded during an outage
         if (backlogCounter.get() >= this.backlogSize) {
             return Optional.empty();
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ private Optional<Listener> tryAcquire(ContextT context) {
             synchronized (lock) {
                 backlog.addFirst(event);
             }
-            
+
             if (!event.await(backlogTimeoutMillis.apply(context), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)) {
                 // Remove the holder from the backlog.  This item is likely to be at the end of the
                 // list so do a removeLastOccurance to minimize the number of items to traverse
@@ -181,10 +181,7 @@ private Optional<Listener> tryAcquire(ContextT context) {
                 }
                 // if we acquired a token just as we were timing out then return it, otherwise the
                 // token would get lost
-                if (event.listener != null) {
-                    return event.listener;
-                }
-                return Optional.empty();
+                return event.listener;
             }
             return event.listener;
         } catch (InterruptedException e) {
@@ -193,15 +190,12 @@ private Optional<Listener> tryAcquire(ContextT context) {
             }
             Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
             // if we acquired a token just as we were interrupted, then return it
-            if (event.listener != null) {
-                return event.listener;
-            }
-            return Optional.empty();
+            return event.listener;
         } finally {
             backlogCounter.decrementAndGet();
         }
     }
-    
+
     private void unblock() {
         synchronized (lock) {
             if (!backlog.isEmpty()) {
@@ -218,7 +212,7 @@ private void unblock() {
             }
         }
     }
-    
+
     @Override
     public Optional<Listener> acquire(ContextT context) {
         return tryAcquire(context).map(delegate -> new Listener() {
@@ -241,7 +235,7 @@ public void onDropped() {
             }
         });
     }
-    
+
     @Override
     public String toString() {
         return "BlockingLimiter [" + delegate + "]";