diff --git a/taskflow/engines/action_engine/retry_action.py b/taskflow/engines/action_engine/retry_action.py
index a1ca3abb..afdfb456 100644
--- a/taskflow/engines/action_engine/retry_action.py
+++ b/taskflow/engines/action_engine/retry_action.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 import logging
 
 from taskflow.engines.action_engine import executor as ex
-from taskflow import exceptions
 from taskflow import states
 from taskflow.utils import async_utils
 from taskflow.utils import misc
@@ -39,27 +38,25 @@ class RetryAction(object):
         return kwargs
 
     def change_state(self, retry, state, result=None):
-        old_state = self._storage.get_atom_state(retry.name)
-        if old_state == state:
-            return state != states.PENDING
         if state in SAVE_RESULT_STATES:
             self._storage.save(retry.name, result, state)
         elif state == states.REVERTED:
             self._storage.cleanup_retry_history(retry.name, state)
         else:
+            old_state = self._storage.get_atom_state(retry.name)
+            if state == old_state:
+                # NOTE(imelnikov): nothing really changed, so we should not
+                # write anything to storage and run notifications
+                return
             self._storage.set_atom_state(retry.name, state)
         retry_uuid = self._storage.get_atom_uuid(retry.name)
         details = dict(retry_name=retry.name,
                        retry_uuid=retry_uuid,
                        result=result)
         self._notifier.notify(state, details)
-        return True
 
     def execute(self, retry):
-        if not self.change_state(retry, states.RUNNING):
-            raise exceptions.InvalidState("Retry controller %s is in invalid "
-                                          "state and can't be executed" %
-                                          retry.name)
+        self.change_state(retry, states.RUNNING)
         kwargs = self._get_retry_args(retry)
         try:
             result = retry.execute(**kwargs)
@@ -71,10 +68,7 @@ class RetryAction(object):
         return async_utils.make_completed_future((retry, ex.EXECUTED, result))
 
     def revert(self, retry):
-        if not self.change_state(retry, states.REVERTING):
-            raise exceptions.InvalidState("Retry controller %s is in invalid "
-                                          "state and can't be reverted" %
-                                          retry.name)
+        self.change_state(retry, states.REVERTING)
         kwargs = self._get_retry_args(retry)
         kwargs['flow_failures'] = self._storage.get_failures()
         try:
diff --git a/taskflow/engines/action_engine/task_action.py b/taskflow/engines/action_engine/task_action.py
index c0d1daa5..a07ded79 100644
--- a/taskflow/engines/action_engine/task_action.py
+++ b/taskflow/engines/action_engine/task_action.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import logging
 
-from taskflow import exceptions
 from taskflow import states
 from taskflow.utils import misc
 
@@ -32,10 +31,30 @@ class TaskAction(object):
         self._task_executor = task_executor
         self._notifier = notifier
 
-    def change_state(self, task, state, result=None, progress=None):
+    def _is_identity_transition(self, state, task, progress):
+        if state in SAVE_RESULT_STATES:
+            # saving result is never identity transition
+            return False
         old_state = self._storage.get_atom_state(task.name)
-        if old_state == state:
-            return state != states.PENDING
+        if state != old_state:
+            # changing state is not identity transition by definition
+            return False
+        # NOTE(imelnikov): last thing to check is that the progress has
+        # changed, which means progress is not None and is different from
+        # what is stored in the database.
+        if progress is None:
+            return False
+        old_progress = self._storage.get_task_progress(task.name)
+        if old_progress != progress:
+            return False
+        return True
+
+    def change_state(self, task, state, result=None, progress=None):
+        if self._is_identity_transition(state, task, progress):
+            # NOTE(imelnikov): ignore identity transitions in order
+            # to avoid extra write to storage backend and, what's
+            # more important, extra notifications
+            return
         if state in SAVE_RESULT_STATES:
             self._storage.save(task.name, result, state)
         else:
@@ -49,7 +68,6 @@ class TaskAction(object):
         self._notifier.notify(state, details)
         if progress is not None:
             task.update_progress(progress)
-        return True
 
     def _on_update_progress(self, task, event_data, progress, **kwargs):
         """Should be called when task updates its progress."""
@@ -62,9 +80,7 @@ class TaskAction(object):
                           task, progress)
 
     def schedule_execution(self, task):
-        if not self.change_state(task, states.RUNNING, progress=0.0):
-            raise exceptions.InvalidState("Task %s is in invalid state and"
-                                          " can't be executed" % task.name)
+        self.change_state(task, states.RUNNING, progress=0.0)
         kwargs = self._storage.fetch_mapped_args(task.rebind,
                                                  atom_name=task.name)
         task_uuid = self._storage.get_atom_uuid(task.name)
@@ -79,9 +95,7 @@ class TaskAction(object):
                               result=result, progress=1.0)
 
     def schedule_reversion(self, task):
-        if not self.change_state(task, states.REVERTING, progress=0.0):
-            raise exceptions.InvalidState("Task %s is in invalid state and"
-                                          " can't be reverted" % task.name)
+        self.change_state(task, states.REVERTING, progress=0.0)
         kwargs = self._storage.fetch_mapped_args(task.rebind,
                                                  atom_name=task.name)
         task_uuid = self._storage.get_atom_uuid(task.name)