diff --git a/ceilometer/notification.py b/ceilometer/notification.py
index 9baa5b40..d3fd1764 100644
--- a/ceilometer/notification.py
+++ b/ceilometer/notification.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 # WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
 # License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
+import itertools
 
 from oslo_config import cfg
 from oslo_context import context
@@ -233,14 +234,9 @@ class NotificationService(service_base.BaseService):
             self.listeners.append(listener)
 
     def _refresh_agent(self, event):
-        self._refresh_listeners()
+        self._configure_pipeline_listeners(True)
 
-    def _refresh_listeners(self):
-        utils.kill_listeners(self.pipeline_listeners)
-        self._configure_pipeline_listeners()
-
-    def _configure_pipeline_listeners(self):
-        self.pipeline_listeners = []
+    def _configure_pipeline_listeners(self, reuse_listeners=False):
         ev_pipes = []
         if cfg.CONF.notification.store_events:
             ev_pipes = self.event_pipeline_manager.pipelines
@@ -249,21 +245,39 @@ class NotificationService(service_base.BaseService):
         partitioned = self.partition_coordinator.extract_my_subset(
             self.group_id,
             range(cfg.CONF.notification.pipeline_processing_queues))
-        for pipe_set in partitioned:
-            for pipe in pipelines:
-                LOG.debug('Pipeline endpoint: %s from set: %s', pipe.name,
-                          pipe_set)
-                pipe_endpoint = (pipeline.EventPipelineEndpoint
-                                 if isinstance(pipe, pipeline.EventPipeline)
-                                 else pipeline.SamplePipelineEndpoint)
-                listener = messaging.get_notification_listener(
-                    transport,
-                    [oslo_messaging.Target(
-                        topic='%s-%s-%s' % (self.NOTIFICATION_IPC,
-                                            pipe.name, pipe_set))],
-                    [pipe_endpoint(self.ctxt, pipe)])
-                listener.start()
-                self.pipeline_listeners.append(listener)
+
+        queue_set = {}
+        for pipe_set, pipe in itertools.product(partitioned, pipelines):
+            queue_set['%s-%s-%s' %
+                      (self.NOTIFICATION_IPC, pipe.name, pipe_set)] = pipe
+
+        if reuse_listeners:
+            topics = queue_set.keys()
+            kill_list = []
+            for listener in self.pipeline_listeners:
+                if listener.dispatcher.targets[0].topic in topics:
+                    queue_set.pop(listener.dispatcher.targets[0].topic)
+                else:
+                    kill_list.append(listener)
+            for listener in kill_list:
+                utils.kill_listeners([listener])
+                self.pipeline_listeners.remove(listener)
+        else:
+            utils.kill_listeners(self.pipeline_listeners)
+            self.pipeline_listeners = []
+
+        for topic, pipe in queue_set.items():
+            LOG.debug('Pipeline endpoint: %s from set: %s', pipe.name,
+                      pipe_set)
+            pipe_endpoint = (pipeline.EventPipelineEndpoint
+                             if isinstance(pipe, pipeline.EventPipeline)
+                             else pipeline.SamplePipelineEndpoint)
+            listener = messaging.get_notification_listener(
+                transport,
+                [oslo_messaging.Target(topic=topic)],
+                [pipe_endpoint(self.ctxt, pipe)])
+            listener.start()
+            self.pipeline_listeners.append(listener)
 
     def stop(self):
         if self.partition_coordinator:
@@ -290,4 +304,4 @@ class NotificationService(service_base.BaseService):
         # re-start the pipeline listeners if workload partitioning
         # is enabled.
         if cfg.CONF.notification.workload_partitioning:
-            self._refresh_listeners()
+            self._configure_pipeline_listeners()
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/functional/test_notification.py b/ceilometer/tests/functional/test_notification.py
index 31b85ad7..c0ebe6b5 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/functional/test_notification.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/functional/test_notification.py
@@ -455,9 +455,29 @@ class TestRealNotificationHA(BaseRealNotification):
 
     def test_reset_listeners_on_refresh(self):
         self.srv.start()
+        listeners = self.srv.pipeline_listeners
+        self.assertEqual(20, len(listeners))
+        self.srv._configure_pipeline_listeners()
         self.assertEqual(20, len(self.srv.pipeline_listeners))
-        self.srv._refresh_listeners()
-        self.assertEqual(20, len(self.srv.pipeline_listeners))
+        for listener in listeners:
+            self.assertNotIn(listeners, set(self.srv.pipeline_listeners))
+        self.srv.stop()
+
+    def test_retain_common_listeners_on_refresh(self):
+        with mock.patch('ceilometer.coordination.PartitionCoordinator'
+                        '.extract_my_subset', return_value=[1, 2]):
+            self.srv.start()
+        self.assertEqual(4, len(self.srv.pipeline_listeners))
+        listeners = [listener for listener in self.srv.pipeline_listeners]
+        with mock.patch('ceilometer.coordination.PartitionCoordinator'
+                        '.extract_my_subset', return_value=[1, 3]):
+            self.srv._refresh_agent(None)
+        self.assertEqual(4, len(self.srv.pipeline_listeners))
+        for listener in listeners:
+            if listener.dispatcher.targets[0].topic.endswith('1'):
+                self.assertIn(listener, set(self.srv.pipeline_listeners))
+            else:
+                self.assertNotIn(listener, set(self.srv.pipeline_listeners))
         self.srv.stop()
 
     @mock.patch('oslo_messaging.Notifier.sample')