diff --git a/discovery/manager.go b/discovery/manager.go
index ae10de5cb..c21e32d5a 100644
--- a/discovery/manager.go
+++ b/discovery/manager.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/go-kit/kit/log"
 	"github.com/go-kit/kit/log/level"
@@ -81,6 +82,10 @@ type Manager struct {
 	targets map[poolKey]map[string]*targetgroup.Group
 	// The sync channels sends the updates in map[targetSetName] where targetSetName is the job value from the scrape config.
 	syncCh chan map[string][]*targetgroup.Group
+	// True if updates were received in the last 5 seconds.
+	recentlyUpdated bool
+	// Protects recentlyUpdated.
+	recentlyUpdatedMtx sync.Mutex
 }
 
 // Run starts the background processing
@@ -123,6 +128,7 @@ func (m *Manager) startProvider(ctx context.Context, poolKey poolKey, worker Dis
 
 	go worker.Run(ctx, updates)
 	go m.runProvider(ctx, poolKey, updates)
+	go m.runUpdater(ctx)
 }
 
 func (m *Manager) runProvider(ctx context.Context, poolKey poolKey, updates chan []*targetgroup.Group) {
@@ -137,7 +143,28 @@ func (m *Manager) runProvider(ctx context.Context, poolKey poolKey, updates chan
 				return
 			}
 			m.updateGroup(poolKey, tgs)
-			m.syncCh <- m.allGroups()
+			m.recentlyUpdatedMtx.Lock()
+			m.recentlyUpdated = true
+			m.recentlyUpdatedMtx.Unlock()
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (m *Manager) runUpdater(ctx context.Context) {
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(5 * time.Second)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return
+		case <-ticker.C:
+			m.recentlyUpdatedMtx.Lock()
+			if m.recentlyUpdated {
+				m.syncCh <- m.allGroups()
+				m.recentlyUpdated = false
+			}
+			m.recentlyUpdatedMtx.Unlock()
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/discovery/manager_test.go b/discovery/manager_test.go
index cf2b7e81e..2eb86605e 100644
--- a/discovery/manager_test.go
+++ b/discovery/manager_test.go
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ import (
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 )
 
-// TestDiscoveryManagerSyncCalls checks that the target updates are received in the expected order.
-func TestDiscoveryManagerSyncCalls(t *testing.T) {
+// TestTargetUpdatesOrder checks that the target updates are received in the expected order.
+func TestTargetUpdatesOrder(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// The order by which the updates are send is detirmened by the interval passed to the mock discovery adapter
 	// Final targets array is ordered alphabetically by the name of the discoverer.
@@ -656,15 +656,14 @@ func TestDiscoveryManagerSyncCalls(t *testing.T) {
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 		defer cancel()
 		discoveryManager := NewManager(nil)
-		go discoveryManager.Run(ctx)
 
 		var totalUpdatesCount int
-		for tpName, update := range testCase.updates {
-			provider := newMockDiscoveryProvider(update)
-			discoveryManager.startProvider(ctx, poolKey{setName: strconv.Itoa(testIndex), provider: tpName}, provider)
 
-			if len(update) > 0 {
-				totalUpdatesCount = totalUpdatesCount + len(update)
+		provUpdates := make(chan []*targetgroup.Group)
+		for _, up := range testCase.updates {
+			go newMockDiscoveryProvider(up).Run(ctx, provUpdates)
+			if len(up) > 0 {
+				totalUpdatesCount = totalUpdatesCount + len(up)
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -674,9 +673,10 @@ func TestDiscoveryManagerSyncCalls(t *testing.T) {
 			case <-time.After(10 * time.Second):
 				t.Errorf("%v. %q: no update arrived within the timeout limit", x, testCase.title)
 				break Loop
-			case tsetMap := <-discoveryManager.SyncCh():
-				for _, received := range tsetMap {
-					// Need to sort by the Groups source as the Discovery manager doesn't guarantee the order.
+			case tgs := <-provUpdates:
+				discoveryManager.updateGroup(poolKey{setName: strconv.Itoa(testIndex), provider: testCase.title}, tgs)
+				for _, received := range discoveryManager.allGroups() {
+					// Need to sort by the Groups source as the received order is not guaranteed.
 					sort.Sort(byGroupSource(received))
 					if !reflect.DeepEqual(received, testCase.expectedTargets[x]) {
 						var receivedFormated string
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/prometheus/tsdb/db.go b/vendor/github.com/prometheus/tsdb/db.go
index b659165f1..292b2a833 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/prometheus/tsdb/db.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/prometheus/tsdb/db.go
@@ -299,7 +299,11 @@ func (db *DB) retentionCutoff() (bool, error) {
 	}
 
 	// This will close the dirs and then delete the dirs.
-	return len(dirs) > 0, db.reload(dirs...)
+	if len(dirs) > 0 {
+		return true, db.reload(dirs...)
+	}
+
+	return false, nil
 }
 
 // Appender opens a new appender against the database.
diff --git a/vendor/vendor.json b/vendor/vendor.json
index ca6190896..0e35516de 100644
--- a/vendor/vendor.json
+++ b/vendor/vendor.json
@@ -800,10 +800,10 @@
 			"revisionTime": "2016-04-11T19:08:41Z"
 		},
 		{
-			"checksumSHA1": "errrSfk16j274D3QY61bWODd56c=",
+			"checksumSHA1": "5mCM640B2xa7y+kRRUeVCglEk7o=",
 			"path": "github.com/prometheus/tsdb",
-			"revision": "ad0fdaf436fc99828bce60f81984dcfa3a282a44",
-			"revisionTime": "2018-01-24T14:58:35Z"
+			"revision": "44dd5e1202b7598d50c69ce3617ca6ae6503cf52",
+			"revisionTime": "2018-01-26T14:54:38Z"
 		},
 		{
 			"checksumSHA1": "XTirmk6Pq5TBGIZEaN5VL4k3i1s=",