diff --git a/controller/RethinkDB.cpp b/controller/RethinkDB.cpp
index 0948b0121..279d6ec29 100644
--- a/controller/RethinkDB.cpp
+++ b/controller/RethinkDB.cpp
@@ -97,10 +97,11 @@ RethinkDB::RethinkDB(EmbeddedNetworkController *const nc,const Identity &myId,co
 								try {
 									json &ov = tmp["old_val"];
 									json &nv = tmp["new_val"];
-									if (ov.is_object()||nv.is_object()) {
-										//if (nv.is_object()) printf("MEMBER: %s" ZT_EOL_S,nv.dump().c_str());
-										this->_memberChanged(ov,nv,(this->_ready <= 0));
-									}
+									json oldConfig,newConfig;
+									if (ov.is_object()) oldConfig = ov["config"];
+									if (nv.is_object()) newConfig = nv["config"];
+									if (oldConfig.is_object()||newConfig.is_object())
+										this->_memberChanged(oldConfig,newConfig,(this->_ready <= 0));
 								} catch ( ... ) {} // ignore bad records
 							}
 						}