diff --git a/lib/capistrano/configuration/servers.rb b/lib/capistrano/configuration/servers.rb
index b32e0e2d..20b066b8 100644
--- a/lib/capistrano/configuration/servers.rb
+++ b/lib/capistrano/configuration/servers.rb
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ module Capistrano
       #   # returns the given hosts, translated to ServerDefinition objects
       #   servers = find_servers :hosts => "jamis@example.host.com"
       def find_servers(options={})
+        return [] if options.key?(:hosts) && (options[:hosts].nil? || options[:hosts] == [])
+        return [] if options.key?(:roles) && (options[:roles].nil? || options[:roles] == [])
+        
         hosts  = server_list_from(ENV['HOSTS'] || options[:hosts])
         
         if hosts.any?
diff --git a/test/configuration/servers_test.rb b/test/configuration/servers_test.rb
index 6cfc404b..51018878 100644
--- a/test/configuration/servers_test.rb
+++ b/test/configuration/servers_test.rb
@@ -155,4 +155,15 @@ class ConfigurationServersTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal %w(app1 app2 app3), @config.find_servers(:roles => lambda { :app }).map { |s| s.host }.sort
     assert_equal %w(app2 file), @config.find_servers(:roles => lambda { [:report, :file] }).map { |s| s.host }.sort
   end
+  
+  def test_find_servers_with_hosts_nil_or_empty
+    assert_equal [], @config.find_servers(:hosts => nil)
+    assert_equal [], @config.find_servers(:hosts => [])
+  end
+  
+  def test_find_servers_with_rolees_nil_or_empty
+    assert_equal [], @config.find_servers(:roles => nil)
+    assert_equal [], @config.find_servers(:roles => [])
+  end
+  
 end