diff --git a/agent/consul/catalog_endpoint.go b/agent/consul/catalog_endpoint.go
index 43dc705ea..b4f7ce279 100644
--- a/agent/consul/catalog_endpoint.go
+++ b/agent/consul/catalog_endpoint.go
@@ -257,19 +257,21 @@ func (c *Catalog) ListNodes(args *structs.DCSpecificRequest, reply *structs.Inde
 		&args.QueryOptions,
 		&reply.QueryMeta,
 		func(ws memdb.WatchSet, state *state.Store) error {
-			var index uint64
-			var nodes structs.Nodes
 			var err error
 			if len(args.NodeMetaFilters) > 0 {
-				index, nodes, err = state.NodesByMeta(ws, args.NodeMetaFilters)
+				reply.Index, reply.Nodes, err = state.NodesByMeta(ws, args.NodeMetaFilters)
 			} else {
-				index, nodes, err = state.Nodes(ws)
+				reply.Index, reply.Nodes, err = state.Nodes(ws)
 			}
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+			if isUnmodified(args.QueryOptions, reply.Index) {
+				reply.QueryMeta.NotModified = true
+				reply.Nodes = nil
+				return nil
+			}
 
-			reply.Index, reply.Nodes = index, nodes
 			if err := c.srv.filterACL(args.Token, reply); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -284,13 +286,17 @@ func (c *Catalog) ListNodes(args *structs.DCSpecificRequest, reply *structs.Inde
 		})
 }
 
+func isUnmodified(opts structs.QueryOptions, index uint64) bool {
+	return opts.AllowNotModifiedResponse && opts.MinQueryIndex > 0 && opts.MinQueryIndex == index
+}
+
 // ListServices is used to query the services in a DC
 func (c *Catalog) ListServices(args *structs.DCSpecificRequest, reply *structs.IndexedServices) error {
 	if done, err := c.srv.forward("Catalog.ListServices", args, args, reply); done {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	(*reply).EnterpriseMeta = args.EnterpriseMeta
+	reply.EnterpriseMeta = args.EnterpriseMeta
 
 	authz, err := c.srv.ResolveTokenAndDefaultMeta(args.Token, &args.EnterpriseMeta, nil)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -305,19 +311,21 @@ func (c *Catalog) ListServices(args *structs.DCSpecificRequest, reply *structs.I
 		&args.QueryOptions,
 		&reply.QueryMeta,
 		func(ws memdb.WatchSet, state *state.Store) error {
-			var index uint64
-			var services structs.Services
 			var err error
 			if len(args.NodeMetaFilters) > 0 {
-				index, services, err = state.ServicesByNodeMeta(ws, args.NodeMetaFilters, &args.EnterpriseMeta)
+				reply.Index, reply.Services, err = state.ServicesByNodeMeta(ws, args.NodeMetaFilters, &args.EnterpriseMeta)
 			} else {
-				index, services, err = state.Services(ws, &args.EnterpriseMeta)
+				reply.Index, reply.Services, err = state.Services(ws, &args.EnterpriseMeta)
 			}
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+			if isUnmodified(args.QueryOptions, reply.Index) {
+				reply.Services = nil
+				reply.QueryMeta.NotModified = true
+				return nil
+			}
 
-			reply.Index, reply.Services, reply.EnterpriseMeta = index, services, args.EnterpriseMeta
 			return c.srv.filterACLWithAuthorizer(authz, reply)
 		})
 }
diff --git a/agent/consul/catalog_endpoint_test.go b/agent/consul/catalog_endpoint_test.go
index f38e84dfc..067574d31 100644
--- a/agent/consul/catalog_endpoint_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/catalog_endpoint_test.go
@@ -783,6 +783,21 @@ func TestCatalog_ListNodes(t *testing.T) {
 	if out.Nodes[0].Address != "127.0.0.1" {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", out)
 	}
+	require.False(t, out.QueryMeta.NotModified)
+
+	t.Run("with option AllowNotModifiedResponse", func(t *testing.T) {
+		args.QueryOptions = structs.QueryOptions{
+			MinQueryIndex:            out.QueryMeta.Index,
+			MaxQueryTime:             20 * time.Millisecond,
+			AllowNotModifiedResponse: true,
+		}
+		err := msgpackrpc.CallWithCodec(codec, "Catalog.ListNodes", &args, &out)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		require.Equal(t, out.Index, out.QueryMeta.Index)
+		require.Len(t, out.Nodes, 0)
+		require.True(t, out.QueryMeta.NotModified, "NotModified should be true")
+	})
 }
 
 func TestCatalog_ListNodes_NodeMetaFilter(t *testing.T) {
@@ -1322,6 +1337,21 @@ func TestCatalog_ListServices(t *testing.T) {
 	if out.Services["db"][0] != "primary" {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", out)
 	}
+	require.False(t, out.QueryMeta.NotModified)
+
+	t.Run("with option AllowNotModifiedResponse", func(t *testing.T) {
+		args.QueryOptions = structs.QueryOptions{
+			MinQueryIndex:            out.QueryMeta.Index,
+			MaxQueryTime:             20 * time.Millisecond,
+			AllowNotModifiedResponse: true,
+		}
+		err := msgpackrpc.CallWithCodec(codec, "Catalog.ListServices", &args, &out)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		require.Equal(t, out.Index, out.QueryMeta.Index)
+		require.Len(t, out.Services, 0)
+		require.True(t, out.QueryMeta.NotModified, "NotModified should be true")
+	})
 }
 
 func TestCatalog_ListServices_NodeMetaFilter(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/agent/structs/structs.go b/agent/structs/structs.go
index e1d638a26..dc4f67df8 100644
--- a/agent/structs/structs.go
+++ b/agent/structs/structs.go
@@ -212,6 +212,11 @@ type QueryOptions struct {
 	// Filter specifies the go-bexpr filter expression to be used for
 	// filtering the data prior to returning a response
 	Filter string
+
+	// AllowNotModifiedResponse indicates that if the MinIndex matches the
+	// QueryMeta.Index, the response can be left empty and QueryMeta.NotModified
+	// will be set to true to indicate the result of the query has not changed.
+	AllowNotModifiedResponse bool
 }
 
 // IsRead is always true for QueryOption.
@@ -268,7 +273,7 @@ func (w *WriteRequest) SetTokenSecret(s string) {
 // QueryMeta allows a query response to include potentially
 // useful metadata about a query
 type QueryMeta struct {
-	// This is the index associated with the read
+	// Index in the raft log of the latest item returned by the query.
 	Index uint64
 
 	// If AllowStale is used, this is time elapsed since
@@ -283,6 +288,12 @@ type QueryMeta struct {
 	// Having `discovery_max_stale` on the agent can affect whether
 	// the request was served by a leader.
 	ConsistencyLevel string
+
+	// NotModified is true when the Index of the query is the same value as the
+	// requested MinIndex. It indicates that the entity has not been modified.
+	// When NotModified is true, the response will not contain the result of
+	// the query.
+	NotModified bool
 }
 
 // RegisterRequest is used for the Catalog.Register endpoint