diff --git a/h/streamer.py b/h/streamer.py
index 79724c01afa..ab4304db4e4 100644
--- a/h/streamer.py
+++ b/h/streamer.py
@@ -495,8 +495,7 @@ def _expand_uris(self, clause):
         available_uris = set(uris)
         for uri in uris:
             doc = document.Document.get_by_uri(uri)
-            # get_by_uri() returns an empty list when no document is found
-            if isinstance(doc, list):
+            if doc is None:
                 return
             for eq_uri in doc.uris():
                 available_uris.add(eq_uri)
diff --git a/h/test/streamer_test.py b/h/test/streamer_test.py
index dfced495665..b0dbf786649 100644
--- a/h/test/streamer_test.py
+++ b/h/test/streamer_test.py
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ def test_filter_message_will_not_change_for_empty_doc(self):
         })
 
         with patch('annotator.document.Document.get_by_uri') as doc:
-            doc.return_value = []
+            doc.return_value = None
             msg = MagicMock()
             msg.data = filter_message
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index be8054a65dc..1f9702b722f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def run_tests(self):
     'PyJWT>=1.0.0,<2.0.0',
     'SQLAlchemy>=0.8.0',
     'alembic>=0.7.0',
-    'annotator>=0.14.1,<0.15',
+    'annotator>=0.14.2,<0.15',
     'blinker>=1.3,<1.4',
     'cryptacular>=1.4,<1.5',
     'cryptography>=0.7',