diff --git a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Pregel.scala b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Pregel.scala
index 75248d515e..47c358f491 100644
--- a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Pregel.scala
+++ b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Pregel.scala
@@ -137,12 +137,12 @@ object Pregel extends Logging {
     val messageCheckpointer = new PeriodicRDDCheckpointer[(VertexId, A)](
       checkpointInterval, graph.vertices.sparkContext)
     messageCheckpointer.update(messages.asInstanceOf[RDD[(VertexId, A)]])
-    var activeMessages = messages.count()
+    var isActiveMessagesNonEmpty = !messages.isEmpty()
 
     // Loop
     var prevG: Graph[VD, ED] = null
     var i = 0
-    while (activeMessages > 0 && i < maxIterations) {
+    while (isActiveMessagesNonEmpty && i < maxIterations) {
       // Receive the messages and update the vertices.
       prevG = g
       g = g.joinVertices(messages)(vprog)
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ object Pregel extends Logging {
       // (depended on by the vertices of g) and the vertices of prevG (depended on by oldMessages
       // and the vertices of g).
       messageCheckpointer.update(messages.asInstanceOf[RDD[(VertexId, A)]])
-      activeMessages = messages.count()
+      isActiveMessagesNonEmpty = !messages.isEmpty()
 
       logInfo("Pregel finished iteration " + i)