diff --git a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/routing_table.hpp b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/routing_table.hpp
index 29d767f69..d6171dafd 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/routing_table.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/routing_table.hpp
@@ -187,6 +187,8 @@ public:
 	void check_invariant() const;
 #endif
 
+	bool is_full(int bucket) const;
+
 private:
 
 	dht_logger* m_log;
diff --git a/src/kademlia/node.cpp b/src/kademlia/node.cpp
index 964f4cf5e..c976c4ca3 100644
--- a/src/kademlia/node.cpp
+++ b/src/kademlia/node.cpp
@@ -564,14 +564,21 @@ void node::send_single_refresh(udp::endpoint const& ep, int bucket
 	e["y"] = "q";
 	entry& a = e["a"];
 
-	// use get_peers instead of find_node. We'll get nodes in the response
-	// either way.
-	e["q"] = "get_peers";
-	a["info_hash"] = target.to_string();
-	m_counters.inc_stats_counter(counters::dht_get_peers_out);
+	if (m_table.is_full(bucket))
+	{
+		// current bucket is full, just ping it.
+		e["q"] = "ping";
+		m_counters.inc_stats_counter(counters::dht_ping_out);
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		// use get_peers instead of find_node. We'll get nodes in the response
+		// either way.
+		e["q"] = "get_peers";
+		a["info_hash"] = target.to_string();
+		m_counters.inc_stats_counter(counters::dht_get_peers_out);
+	}
 
-//	e["q"] = "find_node";
-//	a["target"] = target.to_string();
 	m_rpc.invoke(e, ep, o);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/kademlia/routing_table.cpp b/src/kademlia/routing_table.cpp
index e3b38ded8..84caecfbc 100644
--- a/src/kademlia/routing_table.cpp
+++ b/src/kademlia/routing_table.cpp
@@ -1235,5 +1235,17 @@ void routing_table::check_invariant() const
 }
 #endif
 
+bool routing_table::is_full(int bucket) const
+{
+	int num_buckets = m_buckets.size();
+	if (num_buckets == 0) return false;
+	if (bucket >= num_buckets) return false;
+
+	table_t::const_iterator i = m_buckets.begin();
+	std::advance(i, bucket);
+	return (i->live_nodes.size() >= bucket_limit(bucket)
+		&& i->replacements.size() >= m_bucket_size);
+}
+
 } } // namespace libtorrent::dht