diff --git a/hawkbit-repository/hawkbit-repository-jpa/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/repository/jpa/JpaArtifactManagement.java b/hawkbit-repository/hawkbit-repository-jpa/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/repository/jpa/JpaArtifactManagement.java
index 1376518519..a8bbea6678 100644
--- a/hawkbit-repository/hawkbit-repository-jpa/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/repository/jpa/JpaArtifactManagement.java
+++ b/hawkbit-repository/hawkbit-repository-jpa/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/repository/jpa/JpaArtifactManagement.java
@@ -108,20 +108,20 @@ public Artifact create(final ArtifactUpload artifactUpload) {
         assertMaxArtifactSizeQuota(filename, moduleId, artifactUpload.getFilesize());
         assertMaxArtifactStorageQuota(filename, artifactUpload.getFilesize());
 
-        return  getOrCreateArtifact(artifactUpload)
-                .map(artifact -> storeArtifactMetadata(softwareModule, filename, artifact, existing))
-                .orElse(null);
+        return getOrCreateArtifact(artifactUpload)
+                .map(artifact -> storeArtifactMetadata(softwareModule, filename, artifact, existing)).orElse(null);
     }
 
     private Optional<AbstractDbArtifact> getOrCreateArtifact(final ArtifactUpload artifactUpload) {
         final String providedSha1Sum = artifactUpload.getProvidedSha1Sum();
-        AbstractDbArtifact artifact = null;
 
-        if (!StringUtils.isEmpty(providedSha1Sum)) {
-            artifact = artifactRepository.getArtifactBySha1(tenantAware.getCurrentTenant(), providedSha1Sum);
+        if (!StringUtils.isEmpty(providedSha1Sum)
+                && artifactRepository.existsByTenantAndSha1(tenantAware.getCurrentTenant(), providedSha1Sum)) {
+            return Optional
+                    .ofNullable(artifactRepository.getArtifactBySha1(tenantAware.getCurrentTenant(), providedSha1Sum));
         }
-        artifact = (artifact == null) ? storeArtifact(artifactUpload) : artifact;
-        return Optional.ofNullable(artifact);
+
+        return Optional.of(storeArtifact(artifactUpload));
     }
 
     private AbstractDbArtifact storeArtifact(final ArtifactUpload artifactUpload) {
@@ -244,7 +244,9 @@ private void throwExceptionIfSoftwareModuleDoesNotExist(final Long swId) {
 
     @Override
     public Optional<AbstractDbArtifact> loadArtifactBinary(final String sha1Hash) {
-        return Optional.ofNullable(artifactRepository.getArtifactBySha1(tenantAware.getCurrentTenant(), sha1Hash));
+        return Optional.ofNullable(artifactRepository.existsByTenantAndSha1(tenantAware.getCurrentTenant(), sha1Hash)
+                ? artifactRepository.getArtifactBySha1(tenantAware.getCurrentTenant(), sha1Hash)
+                : null);
     }
 
     private Artifact storeArtifactMetadata(final SoftwareModule softwareModule, final String providedFilename,
diff --git a/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtDownloadResource.java b/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtDownloadResource.java
index f895738006..d4b90e3b28 100644
--- a/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtDownloadResource.java
+++ b/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtDownloadResource.java
@@ -64,7 +64,9 @@ public ResponseEntity<InputStream> downloadArtifactByDownloadId(@PathVariable("t
             AbstractDbArtifact artifact = null;
 
             if (DownloadType.BY_SHA1 == artifactCache.getDownloadType()) {
-                artifact = artifactRepository.getArtifactBySha1(tenant, artifactCache.getId());
+                artifact = artifactRepository.existsByTenantAndSha1(tenant, artifactCache.getId())
+                        ? artifactRepository.getArtifactBySha1(tenant, artifactCache.getId())
+                        : null;
             } else {
                 LOGGER.warn("Download Type {} not supported", artifactCache.getDownloadType());
             }