diff --git a/dependency/dependency_test.go b/dependency/dependency_test.go
index a80aa6121..ba1aceb19 100644
--- a/dependency/dependency_test.go
+++ b/dependency/dependency_test.go
@@ -149,6 +149,15 @@ func (v *vaultServer) CreateSecret(path string, data map[string]interface{},
 	return err
 }
 
+// deleteSecret lets us delete keys as needed for tests
+func (v *vaultServer) deleteSecret(path string) error {
+	_, err := testClients.Vault().Logical().Delete(v.secretsPath + "/" + path)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
 func TestCanShare(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
diff --git a/dependency/vault_read.go b/dependency/vault_read.go
index eae6fc916..5479f90af 100644
--- a/dependency/vault_read.go
+++ b/dependency/vault_read.go
@@ -147,7 +147,8 @@ func (d *VaultReadQuery) readSecret(clients *ClientSet, opts *QueryOptions) (*ap
 	if d.isKVv2 == nil {
 		mountPath, isKVv2, err := isKVv2(vaultClient, d.rawPath)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Printf("[WARN] %s: failed to check if %s is KVv2, assume not: %s", d, d.rawPath, err)
+			log.Printf("[WARN] %s: failed to check if %s is KVv2, "+
+				"assume not: %s", d, d.rawPath, err)
 			isKVv2 = false
 			d.secretPath = d.rawPath
 		} else if isKVv2 {
@@ -163,12 +164,22 @@ func (d *VaultReadQuery) readSecret(clients *ClientSet, opts *QueryOptions) (*ap
 		Path:     "/v1/" + d.secretPath,
 		RawQuery: queryString,
 	})
-	vaultSecret, err := vaultClient.Logical().ReadWithData(d.secretPath, d.queryValues)
+	vaultSecret, err := vaultClient.Logical().ReadWithData(d.secretPath,
+		d.queryValues)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, d.String())
 	}
-	if vaultSecret == nil {
+	if vaultSecret == nil || deletedKVv2(vaultSecret) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no secret exists at %s", d.secretPath)
 	}
 	return vaultSecret, nil
 }
+
+func deletedKVv2(s *api.Secret) bool {
+	switch md := s.Data["metadata"].(type) {
+	case map[string]interface{}:
+		return md["deletion_time"] != ""
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/dependency/vault_read_test.go b/dependency/vault_read_test.go
index 7f423c3e3..597ea6db4 100644
--- a/dependency/vault_read_test.go
+++ b/dependency/vault_read_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/vault/api"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
@@ -325,6 +326,37 @@ func TestVaultReadQuery_Fetch_KVv2(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 
+	t.Run("read_deleted", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// only needed for KVv2 as KVv1 doesn't have metadata
+		path := "data/foo/zed"
+		// create and delete a secret
+		err = vault.CreateSecret(path, map[string]interface{}{
+			"zip": "zop",
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		err = vault.deleteSecret(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		// now look for entry with metadata but no data (deleted secret)
+		path = vault.secretsPath + "/" + path
+		d, err := NewVaultReadQuery(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		_, _, err = d.Fetch(clients, nil)
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Fatal("Nil received when error expected")
+		}
+		exp_err := fmt.Sprintf("no secret exists at %s", path)
+		if errors.Cause(err).Error() != exp_err {
+			t.Fatalf("Unexpected error received.\nexpected '%s'\ngot: '%s'",
+				exp_err, errors.Cause(err))
+		}
+	})
+
 	t.Run("stops", func(t *testing.T) {
 		d, err := NewVaultReadQuery(secretsPath + "/foo/bar")
 		if err != nil {