diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/AbstractSqlEamDb.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/AbstractSqlEamDb.java
index 633b86df3c..2a1620e9b1 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/AbstractSqlEamDb.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/AbstractSqlEamDb.java
@@ -673,74 +673,76 @@ public abstract class AbstractSqlEamDb implements EamDb {
         if (correlationCase != null) {
             singleCase = true;
         }
-        if (values == null) {
-            values = new ArrayList<String>();
-        }
-        Connection conn = connect();
 
         List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> artifactInstances = new ArrayList<>();
+        
+        if (values != null && !values.isEmpty()) {            
+            
+            //we can skip all this if there is nothing to search for
+            String tableName = EamDbUtil.correlationTypeToInstanceTableName(aType);
+            StringBuilder sql = new StringBuilder(10);
+            sql.append("SELECT cases.case_name, cases.case_uid, data_sources.name, device_id, file_path, known_status, comment, data_sources.case_id, value FROM ");
+            sql.append(tableName);
+            sql.append(" LEFT JOIN cases ON ");
+            sql.append(tableName);
+            sql.append(".case_id=cases.id");
+            sql.append(" LEFT JOIN data_sources ON ");
+            sql.append(tableName);
+            sql.append(".data_source_id=data_sources.id");
+            sql.append(" WHERE value IN (SELECT value FROM ");
+            sql.append(tableName);
+            sql.append(" WHERE value IN (");
 
-        //  SELECT cases.case_name, cases.case_uid, data_sources.name, device_id, file_path, known_status, comment, data_sources.case_id, value FROM file_instances LEFT JOIN cases ON file_instances.case_id=cases.id LEFT JOIN data_sources ON file_instances.data_source_id=data_sources.id WHERE value IN (SELECT value FROM file_instances WHERE value IN ("59029becd7f830c0478aeb5e67cc3b20","d2b949c51cf3d5721699a6ea500eeba7","b90c8c8fb1c4687780002704b59585fe") GROUP BY value HAVING COUNT(*) > 1) ORDER BY value
-        CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance artifactInstance;
-        PreparedStatement preparedStatement = null;
-        ResultSet resultSet = null;
+            // Note: PreparedStatement has a limit on ? variable replacement so instead query is built with values appended directly into the string
+            for (String value : values) {
+                sql.append("'");
+                sql.append(value);
+                sql.append("',");
+            }
 
-        String tableName = EamDbUtil.correlationTypeToInstanceTableName(aType);
-        StringBuilder sql = new StringBuilder(10);
-        sql.append("SELECT cases.case_name, cases.case_uid, data_sources.name, device_id, file_path, known_status, comment, data_sources.case_id, value FROM ");
-        sql.append(tableName);
-        sql.append(" LEFT JOIN cases ON ");
-        sql.append(tableName);
-        sql.append(".case_id=cases.id");
-        sql.append(" LEFT JOIN data_sources ON ");
-        sql.append(tableName);
-        sql.append(".data_source_id=data_sources.id");
-        sql.append(" WHERE value IN (SELECT value FROM ");
-        sql.append(tableName);
-        sql.append(" WHERE value IN (");
-
-        // Note: PreparedStatement has a limit on ? variable replacement so instead query is built with values appended directly into the string
-        for (String value : values) {
-            sql.append("'");
-            sql.append(value);
-            sql.append("',");
-        }
-        if (values != null) {
             sql.deleteCharAt(sql.length() - 1);
-        }
-        sql.append(") GROUP BY value HAVING COUNT(*) > 1)"); // 
 
-        if (singleCase && correlationCase != null) {
-            sql.append(" AND ");
-            sql.append(tableName);
-            sql.append(".case_id=?");
-            sql.append(" OR ");
-            sql.append(tableName);
-            sql.append(".case_id=?");
+            sql.append(") GROUP BY value HAVING COUNT(*) > 1)"); // 
 
-        }
-
-        sql.append(" ORDER BY value, cases.case_name, file_path");
-
-        try {
-            preparedStatement = conn.prepareStatement(sql.toString());
             if (singleCase && correlationCase != null) {
-                preparedStatement.setInt(1, correlationCase.getID());
-                preparedStatement.setInt(2, currentCaseId);
+                sql.append(" AND ");
+                sql.append(tableName);
+                sql.append(".case_id=?");
+                sql.append(" OR ");
+                sql.append(tableName);
+                sql.append(".case_id=?");
             }
+            
+            //TODO shows extra results - possibly shows matches within current case
 
-            resultSet = preparedStatement.executeQuery();
-            while (resultSet.next()) {
-                artifactInstance = getCommonEamArtifactInstanceFromResultSet(resultSet);
-                artifactInstances.add(artifactInstance);
+            sql.append(" ORDER BY value, cases.case_name, file_path");
+
+            Connection conn = connect();
+            CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance artifactInstance;
+            PreparedStatement preparedStatement = null;
+            ResultSet resultSet = null;
+
+            try {
+
+                preparedStatement = conn.prepareStatement(sql.toString());
+                if (singleCase && correlationCase != null) {
+                    preparedStatement.setInt(1, correlationCase.getID());
+                    preparedStatement.setInt(2, currentCaseId);
+                }
+
+                resultSet = preparedStatement.executeQuery();
+                while (resultSet.next()) {
+                    artifactInstance = getCommonEamArtifactInstanceFromResultSet(resultSet);
+                    artifactInstances.add(artifactInstance);
+                }
+
+            } catch (SQLException ex) {
+                throw new EamDbException("Error getting artifact instances by artifactType and artifactValue.", ex); // NON-NLS
+            } finally {
+                EamDbUtil.closePreparedStatement(preparedStatement);
+                EamDbUtil.closeResultSet(resultSet);
+                EamDbUtil.closeConnection(conn);
             }
-
-        } catch (SQLException ex) {
-            throw new EamDbException("Error getting artifact instances by artifactType and artifactValue.", ex); // NON-NLS
-        } finally {
-            EamDbUtil.closePreparedStatement(preparedStatement);
-            EamDbUtil.closeResultSet(resultSet);
-            EamDbUtil.closeConnection(conn);
         }
 
         return artifactInstances;
diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/EamDb.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/EamDb.java
index 5984e4d074..db928b5acd 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/EamDb.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/EamDb.java
@@ -230,8 +230,10 @@ public interface EamDb {
      * 
      * @param correlationCase Case id  to search on
      * @param values List of ArtifactInstance MD5 values to find matches of.
+     * @param currentCaseId current case
      * 
      * @return List of artifact instances for a given list of MD5 values
+     * //TODO create an overload that omits the case params
      */
     List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(CorrelationCase correlationCase, Collection<String> values, int currentCaseId) throws EamDbException;
 
diff --git a/Core/test/qa-functional/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/CentralRepoDatamodelTest.java b/Core/test/qa-functional/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/CentralRepoDatamodelTest.java
index 055e9a8040..d41dac4e06 100755
--- a/Core/test/qa-functional/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/CentralRepoDatamodelTest.java
+++ b/Core/test/qa-functional/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/centralrepository/datamodel/CentralRepoDatamodelTest.java
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ public class CentralRepoDatamodelTest extends TestCase {
         
         // Test getting common instances with expected results
         try {
-            List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> instances = EamDb.getInstance().getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(null, Arrays.asList(inAllDataSourcesHash, inDataSource1twiceHash));
+            List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> instances = EamDb.getInstance().getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(null, Arrays.asList(inAllDataSourcesHash, inDataSource1twiceHash), -1);
             assertTrue("getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues returned " + instances.size() + " results - expected 5", instances.size() == 5);
 
             // This test works because all the instances of this hash were set to the same path
@@ -867,7 +867,7 @@ public class CentralRepoDatamodelTest extends TestCase {
         // Test getting instances expecting no results because they are not in the case 
         try {
             CorrelationCase badCase = new CorrelationCase("badCaseUuid", "badCaseName");
-            List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> instances = EamDb.getInstance().getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(badCase, Arrays.asList(inAllDataSourcesHash, inDataSource1twiceHash));
+            List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> instances = EamDb.getInstance().getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(badCase, Arrays.asList(inAllDataSourcesHash, inDataSource1twiceHash), 0);
             
             assertTrue("getArtifactInstancesByTypeValue returned " + instances.size() + " results - expected 0", instances.isEmpty());
         } catch (EamDbException ex) {
@@ -878,7 +878,7 @@ public class CentralRepoDatamodelTest extends TestCase {
                 
         // Test getting instances expecting no results because of bad hashes
         try {
-            List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> instances = EamDb.getInstance().getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(null, Arrays.asList("xyz", "123"));
+            List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> instances = EamDb.getInstance().getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(null, Arrays.asList("xyz", "123"), -1);
             
             assertTrue("getArtifactInstancesByTypeValue returned " + instances.size() + " results - expected 0", instances.isEmpty());
         } catch (EamDbException ex) {
@@ -918,7 +918,7 @@ public class CentralRepoDatamodelTest extends TestCase {
         // Test getting instances with null value
         // Should just return nothing
         try {
-           List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> instances = EamDb.getInstance().getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(null, null);
+           List<CorrelationAttributeCommonInstance> instances = EamDb.getInstance().getArtifactInstancesByCaseValues(null, null, -1);
             
             assertTrue("getArtifactInstancesByTypeValue returned non-empty list for null value", instances.isEmpty());
         } catch (EamDbException ex) {