diff --git a/lib/redis/semaphore.rb b/lib/redis/semaphore.rb
index 461fa72..a7b5fa5 100644
--- a/lib/redis/semaphore.rb
+++ b/lib/redis/semaphore.rb
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def initialize(name, opts = {})
     def exists_or_create!
       token = @redis.getset(exists_key, EXISTS_TOKEN)
 
-      if token.nil?
+      if token.nil? || all_tokens.empty?
         create!
       else
         # Previous versions of redis-semaphore did not set `version_key`.
diff --git a/spec/semaphore_spec.rb b/spec/semaphore_spec.rb
index e2c0d65..86457dd 100644
--- a/spec/semaphore_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/semaphore_spec.rb
@@ -143,6 +143,19 @@
         expect(semaphore.locked?).to be true
       end
     end
+
+    it "should recover after being killed after lpop of AVAILABLE" do
+      semaphore.lock
+      semaphore.unlock
+
+      expect(semaphore.available_count). to eq(1)
+
+      @redis.lpop(semaphore.send(:available_key))
+
+      semaphore.lock(-1)
+
+      expect(semaphore.locked?).to be true
+    end
   end
 
   describe "semaphore with expiration" do