When we send an empty message to the server, pretend its just a request to load the page. Make load a bit smarter such that if we don't get back any transactions, rather than error like the fool, just send down to the client the notion of a 'non_update'. Instrument the client to just turn off the appropriate loading state, etc for a non update.
T7318 is a tricky beast since we don't know exactly how to reproduce it but if / when it occurs again it would be some other bizarre application behavior maybe? We won't be getting the execption anymore, that's for sure.