diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/PartitionAssignor.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/PartitionAssignor.scala
index 4afda8bee18..849284ad2cf 100755
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/PartitionAssignor.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/PartitionAssignor.scala
@@ -112,6 +112,9 @@ class RoundRobinAssignor() extends PartitionAssignor with Logging {
         assignmentForConsumer += (topicPartition -> threadId)
       })
     }
+
+    // assign Map.empty for the consumers which are not associated with topic partitions
+    ctx.consumers.foreach(consumerId => partitionAssignment.getAndMaybePut(consumerId))
     partitionAssignment
   }
 }
@@ -164,6 +167,9 @@ class RangeAssignor() extends PartitionAssignor with Logging {
         }
       }
     }
+
+    // assign Map.empty for the consumers which are not associated with topic partitions
+    ctx.consumers.foreach(consumerId => partitionAssignment.getAndMaybePut(consumerId))
     partitionAssignment
   }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ZookeeperConsumerConnector.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ZookeeperConsumerConnector.scala
index e250b94626c..aa8d9404a3e 100755
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ZookeeperConsumerConnector.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ZookeeperConsumerConnector.scala
@@ -684,9 +684,7 @@ private[kafka] class ZookeeperConsumerConnector(val config: ConsumerConfig,
         releasePartitionOwnership(topicRegistry)
         val assignmentContext = new AssignmentContext(group, consumerIdString, config.excludeInternalTopics, zkClient)
         val globalPartitionAssignment = partitionAssignor.assign(assignmentContext)
-        val partitionAssignment = Option(globalPartitionAssignment.get(assignmentContext.consumerId)).getOrElse(
-          mutable.HashMap.empty[TopicAndPartition, ConsumerThreadId]
-        )
+        val partitionAssignment = globalPartitionAssignment.get(assignmentContext.consumerId)
         val currentTopicRegistry = new Pool[String, Pool[Int, PartitionTopicInfo]](
           valueFactory = Some((topic: String) => new Pool[Int, PartitionTopicInfo]))