diff --git a/pkg/custom-provider/provider.go b/pkg/custom-provider/provider.go
index b9ea5f1c..384acfde 100644
--- a/pkg/custom-provider/provider.go
+++ b/pkg/custom-provider/provider.go
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ package provider
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/kubernetes-incubator/custom-metrics-apiserver/pkg/provider"
 	pmodel "github.com/prometheus/common/model"
 	apierr "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
@@ -282,6 +282,11 @@ func (l *cachingMetricsLister) RunUntil(stopChan <-chan struct{}) {
 	}, l.updateInterval, stopChan)
 }
 
+type selectorSeries struct {
+	selector prom.Selector
+	series   []prom.Series
+}
+
 func (l *cachingMetricsLister) updateMetrics() error {
 	startTime := pmodel.Now().Add(-1 * l.updateInterval)
 
@@ -291,11 +296,13 @@ func (l *cachingMetricsLister) updateMetrics() error {
 	// these can take a while on large clusters, so launch in parallel
 	// and don't duplicate
 	selectors := make(map[prom.Selector]struct{})
+	selectorSeriesChan := make(chan selectorSeries, len(l.namers))
 	errs := make(chan error, len(l.namers))
 	for _, namer := range l.namers {
 		sel := namer.Selector()
 		if _, ok := selectors[sel]; ok {
 			errs <- nil
+			selectorSeriesChan <- selectorSeries{}
 			continue
 		}
 		selectors[sel] = struct{}{}
@@ -306,7 +313,10 @@ func (l *cachingMetricsLister) updateMetrics() error {
 				return
 			}
 			errs <- nil
-			seriesCacheByQuery[sel] = series
+			selectorSeriesChan <- selectorSeries{
+				selector: sel,
+				series:   series,
+			}
 		}()
 	}
 
@@ -315,6 +325,9 @@ func (l *cachingMetricsLister) updateMetrics() error {
 		if err := <-errs; err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("unable to update list of all metrics: %v", err)
 		}
+		if ss := <-selectorSeriesChan; ss.series != nil {
+			seriesCacheByQuery[ss.selector] = ss.series
+		}
 	}
 	close(errs)