diff --git a/src/api/bucket.h b/src/api/bucket.h
index 024e19324..a2335fef8 100644
--- a/src/api/bucket.h
+++ b/src/api/bucket.h
@@ -149,17 +149,12 @@ Status Bucket::PlaceBlobs(std::vector<PlacementSchema> &schemas,
 
   for (size_t i = 0; i < schemas.size(); ++i) {
     PlacementSchema &schema = schemas[i];
-    if (schema.size()) {
-      hermes::Blob blob = {};
-      blob.data = (u8 *)blobs[i].data();
-      blob.size = blobs[i].size() * sizeof(T);
-      // TODO(chogan): @errorhandling What about partial failure?
-      result = PlaceBlob(&hermes_->context_, &hermes_->rpc_, schema, blob,
-                         names[i].c_str(), id_);
-    } else {
-      // TODO(chogan): @errorhandling
-      result = 1;
-    }
+    hermes::Blob blob = {};
+    blob.data = (u8 *)blobs[i].data();
+    blob.size = blobs[i].size() * sizeof(T);
+    // TODO(chogan): @errorhandling What about partial failure?
+    result = PlaceBlob(&hermes_->context_, &hermes_->rpc_, schema, blob,
+                       names[i].c_str(), id_);
   }
 
   return result;
diff --git a/src/data_placement_engine.cc b/src/data_placement_engine.cc
index a3f521d1b..ea807b2ed 100644
--- a/src/data_placement_engine.cc
+++ b/src/data_placement_engine.cc
@@ -379,9 +379,12 @@ Status CalculatePlacement(SharedMemoryContext *context, RpcContext *rpc,
   }
 
   // Aggregate placement schemas from the same target
-  for (auto it = output_tmp.begin(); it != output_tmp.end(); ++it) {
-    PlacementSchema schema = AggregateBlobSchema((*it));
-    output.push_back(schema);
+  if (!result) {
+    for (auto it = output_tmp.begin(); it != output_tmp.end(); ++it) {
+      PlacementSchema schema = AggregateBlobSchema((*it));
+      CHECK(schema.size() > 0) << "PlacementSchema is empty";
+      output.push_back(schema);
+    }
   }
 
   return result;