diff --git a/agent/cache-types/catalog_list_services.go b/agent/cache-types/catalog_list_services.go
index 7d38f23ae..1c602cdb2 100644
--- a/agent/cache-types/catalog_list_services.go
+++ b/agent/cache-types/catalog_list_services.go
@@ -38,9 +38,12 @@ func (c *CatalogListServices) Fetch(opts cache.FetchOptions, req cache.Request)
 	// going to be served from cache and end up arbitrarily stale anyway. This
 	// allows cached service-discover to automatically read scale across all
 	// servers too.
-	reqReal.AllowStale = true
+	reqReal.QueryOptions.AllowStale = true
+
+	if opts.LastResult != nil {
+		reqReal.QueryOptions.AllowNotModifiedResponse = true
+	}
 
-	// Fetch
 	var reply structs.IndexedServices
 	if err := c.RPC.RPC("Catalog.ListServices", reqReal, &reply); err != nil {
 		return result, err
@@ -48,5 +51,6 @@ func (c *CatalogListServices) Fetch(opts cache.FetchOptions, req cache.Request)
 
 	result.Value = &reply
 	result.Index = reply.QueryMeta.Index
+	result.NotModified = reply.QueryMeta.NotModified
 	return result, nil
 }
diff --git a/agent/cache-types/catalog_list_services_test.go b/agent/cache-types/catalog_list_services_test.go
index ee806ff88..efb1ff33f 100644
--- a/agent/cache-types/catalog_list_services_test.go
+++ b/agent/cache-types/catalog_list_services_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package cachetype
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -60,3 +61,58 @@ func TestCatalogListServices_badReqType(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "wrong type")
 	rpc.AssertExpectations(t)
 }
+
+func TestCatalogListServices_IntegrationWithCache_NotModifiedResponse(t *testing.T) {
+	rpc := &MockRPC{}
+	typ := &CatalogListServices{RPC: rpc}
+
+	services := map[string][]string{
+		"foo": {"prod", "linux"},
+		"bar": {"qa", "windows"},
+	}
+	rpc.On("RPC", "Catalog.ListServices", mock.Anything, mock.Anything).
+		Return(nil).
+		Run(func(args mock.Arguments) {
+			req := args.Get(1).(*structs.DCSpecificRequest)
+			require.True(t, req.AllowStale)
+			require.True(t, req.AllowNotModifiedResponse)
+
+			reply := args.Get(2).(*structs.IndexedServices)
+			reply.QueryMeta.Index = 44
+			reply.NotModified = true
+		})
+
+	c := cache.New(nil)
+	c.RegisterType(CatalogListServicesName, typ)
+	last := cache.FetchResult{
+		Value: &structs.IndexedServices{
+			Services:  services,
+			QueryMeta: structs.QueryMeta{Index: 42},
+		},
+		Index: 42,
+	}
+	req := &structs.DCSpecificRequest{
+		Datacenter: "dc1",
+		QueryOptions: structs.QueryOptions{
+			Token:         "token",
+			MinQueryIndex: 44,
+			MaxQueryTime:  time.Second,
+		},
+	}
+
+	err := c.Prepopulate(CatalogListServicesName, last, "dc1", "token", req.CacheInfo().Key)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	t.Cleanup(cancel)
+	actual, _, err := c.Get(ctx, CatalogListServicesName, req)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	expected := &structs.IndexedServices{
+		Services:  services,
+		QueryMeta: structs.QueryMeta{Index: 42},
+	}
+	require.Equal(t, expected, actual)
+
+	rpc.AssertExpectations(t)
+}
diff --git a/agent/cache/cache.go b/agent/cache/cache.go
index 9b8845b64..2b1f3c120 100644
--- a/agent/cache/cache.go
+++ b/agent/cache/cache.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"container/heap"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
@@ -167,15 +168,12 @@ type RegisterOptions struct {
 	// client requests them with MinIndex.
 	SupportsBlocking bool
 
-	// RefreshTimer is the time between attempting to refresh data.
+	// RefreshTimer is the time to sleep between attempts to refresh data.
 	// If this is zero, then data is refreshed immediately when a fetch
 	// is returned.
 	//
-	// RefreshTimeout determines the maximum query time for a refresh
-	// operation. This is specified as part of the query options and is
-	// expected to be implemented by the Type itself.
-	//
-	// Using these values, various "refresh" mechanisms can be implemented:
+	// Using different values for RefreshTimer and RefreshTimeout, various
+	// "refresh" mechanisms can be implemented:
 	//
 	//   * With a high timer duration and a low timeout, a timer-based
 	//     refresh can be set that minimizes load on the Consul servers.
@@ -184,7 +182,11 @@ type RegisterOptions struct {
 	//     refresh can be set so that changes in server data are recognized
 	//     within the cache very quickly.
 	//
-	RefreshTimer   time.Duration
+	RefreshTimer time.Duration
+
+	// RefreshTimeout is the default value for the maximum query time for a fetch
+	// operation. It is set as FetchOptions.Timeout so that cache.Type
+	// implementations can use it as the MaxQueryTime.
 	RefreshTimeout time.Duration
 }
 
@@ -473,8 +475,7 @@ func (c *Cache) fetch(key string, r getOptions, allowNew bool, attempt uint, ign
 		// keepalives are every 30 seconds so the RPC should fail if the packets are
 		// being blackholed for more than 30 seconds.
 		var connectedTimer *time.Timer
-		if tEntry.Opts.Refresh && entry.Index > 0 &&
-			tEntry.Opts.RefreshTimeout > (31*time.Second) {
+		if tEntry.Opts.Refresh && entry.Index > 0 && tEntry.Opts.RefreshTimeout > 31*time.Second {
 			connectedTimer = time.AfterFunc(31*time.Second, func() {
 				c.entriesLock.Lock()
 				defer c.entriesLock.Unlock()
@@ -520,7 +521,9 @@ func (c *Cache) fetch(key string, r getOptions, allowNew bool, attempt uint, ign
 
 		if result.Value != nil {
 			// A new value was given, so we create a brand new entry.
-			newEntry.Value = result.Value
+			if !result.NotModified {
+				newEntry.Value = result.Value
+			}
 			newEntry.State = result.State
 			newEntry.Index = result.Index
 			newEntry.FetchedAt = time.Now()
@@ -551,8 +554,9 @@ func (c *Cache) fetch(key string, r getOptions, allowNew bool, attempt uint, ign
 
 		// Error handling
 		if err == nil {
-			metrics.IncrCounter([]string{"consul", "cache", "fetch_success"}, 1)
-			metrics.IncrCounter([]string{"consul", "cache", tEntry.Name, "fetch_success"}, 1)
+			labels := []metrics.Label{{Name: "result_not_modified", Value: strconv.FormatBool(result.NotModified)}}
+			metrics.IncrCounterWithLabels([]string{"consul", "cache", "fetch_success"}, 1, labels)
+			metrics.IncrCounterWithLabels([]string{"consul", "cache", tEntry.Name, "fetch_success"}, 1, labels)
 
 			if result.Index > 0 {
 				// Reset the attempts counter so we don't have any backoff
diff --git a/agent/cache/type.go b/agent/cache/type.go
index deae8a573..febdc18d7 100644
--- a/agent/cache/type.go
+++ b/agent/cache/type.go
@@ -78,4 +78,8 @@ type FetchResult struct {
 
 	// Index is the corresponding index value for this data.
 	Index uint64
+
+	// NotModified indicates that the Value has not changed since LastResult, and
+	// the LastResult value should be used instead of Value.
+	NotModified bool
 }