diff --git a/carbonj.service/src/main/java/com/demandware/carbonj/service/engine/GraphiteSeriesDataServlet.java b/carbonj.service/src/main/java/com/demandware/carbonj/service/engine/GraphiteSeriesDataServlet.java
index c6a4d009..b86670ef 100644
--- a/carbonj.service/src/main/java/com/demandware/carbonj/service/engine/GraphiteSeriesDataServlet.java
+++ b/carbonj.service/src/main/java/com/demandware/carbonj/service/engine/GraphiteSeriesDataServlet.java
@@ -97,6 +97,13 @@ protected void doGet( HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse res )
         {
             res.setContentType( "application/json" );
         }
+        else if ( protobuf )
+        {
+            LOG.info( "carbonapi request: found protobuf request" );
+            res.setContentType( "application/protobuf" );
+            target = req.getParameter( "query" );
+            LOG.info( "carbonapi request: query: " + target + " --- blacklist: " + queryBlacklist );
+        }
         else
         {
             res.setContentType( "application/pickle" );
@@ -144,9 +151,11 @@ protected void doGet( HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse res )
         }
         else if ( protobuf )
         {
+            LOG.info( "carbonapi request: processing request" );
             List<Series> seriesList = store.fetchSeriesData( new Query( target, Integer.parseInt( from ),
                 Integer.parseInt( until ), now, System.currentTimeMillis() ) );
 
+            LOG.info( "carbonapi request: formatting response" );
             OutputStream output = res.getOutputStream();
 
             List<MetricsResponse.Series> metricsSeriesList = new ArrayList<MetricsResponse.Series>();
@@ -155,7 +164,9 @@ else if ( protobuf )
                 List<MetricsResponse.Value> valuesList = new ArrayList<MetricsResponse.Value>();
                 for ( Double value : series.values )
                 {
-                    valuesList.add( MetricsResponse.Value.newBuilder().setValue( value ).build() );
+
+                    valuesList.add(
+                        MetricsResponse.Value.newBuilder().setValue( value == null ? (double) 0 : value ).build() );
                 }
                 MetricsResponse.Series metricsSeries =
                     MetricsResponse.Series.newBuilder().setName( series.name ).setStart( series.start )
@@ -167,15 +178,22 @@ else if ( protobuf )
             MetricsResponse.SeriesList response =
                 MetricsResponse.SeriesList.newBuilder().addAllSeriesList( metricsSeriesList ).build();
 
+            LOG.info( "carbonapi request: done formatting response" );
+
             try
             {
+                LOG.info( "carbonapi request: writing response" );
                 response.writeTo( output );
             }
+            catch ( Exception e )
+            {
+                LOG.error( "carbonapi request: error writing response", e.getMessage() );
+            }
             finally
             {
                 output.close();
             }
-        }        
+        }
         else
         {
             ResponseStream seriesStream = new GraphitePickler( false, res.getOutputStream() );
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 5bebe806..31d5cb34 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-version=1.1.29
+version=pmoineau.W-13680300.carbonj-protobuf.v1.1.29-SNAPSHOT
 org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx2g -XX:MaxPermSize=2048m
 org.gradle.daemon=true
 ccGradlePluginVersion = 3.0.3