diff --git a/pkg/storage/storage.go b/pkg/storage/storage.go
index 25ab6dae4..88fcd255f 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/storage.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/storage.go
@@ -139,6 +139,19 @@ func (s *Storage) History(name string) ([]*rspb.Release, error) {
 	return l, nil
 }
 
+func (s *Storage) Last(name string) (*rspb.Release, error) {
+	h, err := s.History(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if len(h) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no revision for release %q", name)
+	}
+
+	relutil.Reverse(h, relutil.SortByRevision)
+	return h[0], nil
+}
+
 // makeKey concatenates a release name and version into
 // a string with format ```<release_name>#v<version>```.
 // This key is used to uniquely identify storage objects.
diff --git a/pkg/storage/storage_test.go b/pkg/storage/storage_test.go
index 5935b4e88..141a019fa 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/storage_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/storage_test.go
@@ -217,6 +217,38 @@ func TestStorageHistory(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestStorageLast(t *testing.T) {
+	storage := Init(driver.NewMemory())
+
+	const name = "angry-bird"
+
+	// setup storage with test releases
+	setup := func() {
+		// release records
+		rls0 := ReleaseTestData{Name: name, Version: 1, Status: rspb.Status_SUPERSEDED}.ToRelease()
+		rls1 := ReleaseTestData{Name: name, Version: 2, Status: rspb.Status_SUPERSEDED}.ToRelease()
+		rls2 := ReleaseTestData{Name: name, Version: 3, Status: rspb.Status_SUPERSEDED}.ToRelease()
+		rls3 := ReleaseTestData{Name: name, Version: 4, Status: rspb.Status_FAILED}.ToRelease()
+
+		// create the release records in the storage
+		assertErrNil(t.Fatal, storage.Create(rls0), "Storing release 'angry-bird' (v1)")
+		assertErrNil(t.Fatal, storage.Create(rls1), "Storing release 'angry-bird' (v2)")
+		assertErrNil(t.Fatal, storage.Create(rls2), "Storing release 'angry-bird' (v3)")
+		assertErrNil(t.Fatal, storage.Create(rls3), "Storing release 'angry-bird' (v4)")
+	}
+
+	setup()
+
+	h, err := storage.Last(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to query for release history (%q): %s\n", name, err)
+	}
+
+	if h.Version != 4 {
+		t.Errorf("Expected revision 4, got %d", h.Version)
+	}
+}
+
 type ReleaseTestData struct {
 	Name      string
 	Version   int32
diff --git a/pkg/tiller/release_server.go b/pkg/tiller/release_server.go
index 21ed04a6a..7abca155a 100755
--- a/pkg/tiller/release_server.go
+++ b/pkg/tiller/release_server.go
@@ -241,17 +241,11 @@ func (s *ReleaseServer) GetReleaseStatus(c ctx.Context, req *services.GetRelease
 	var rel *release.Release
 
 	if req.Version <= 0 {
-		h, err := s.env.Releases.History(req.Name)
+		var err error
+		rel, err = s.env.Releases.Last(req.Name)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("getting deployed release '%s': %s", req.Name, err)
-		}
-		if len(h) < 1 {
-			return nil, errMissingRelease
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("getting deployed release %q: %s", req.Name, err)
 		}
-
-		relutil.Reverse(h, relutil.SortByRevision)
-		rel = h[0]
-
 	} else {
 		var err error
 		if rel, err = s.env.Releases.Get(req.Name, req.Version); err != nil {
@@ -388,7 +382,7 @@ func (s *ReleaseServer) prepareUpdate(req *services.UpdateReleaseRequest) (*rele
 	}
 
 	// finds the non-deleted release with the given name
-	currentRelease, err := s.env.Releases.Deployed(req.Name)
+	currentRelease, err := s.env.Releases.Last(req.Name)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
@@ -516,17 +510,10 @@ func (s *ReleaseServer) prepareRollback(req *services.RollbackReleaseRequest) (*
 		return nil, nil, errInvalidRevision
 	}
 
-	// finds the non-deleted release with the given name
-	h, err := s.env.Releases.History(req.Name)
+	crls, err := s.env.Releases.Last(req.Name)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
-	if len(h) <= 1 {
-		return nil, nil, errors.New("no revision to rollback")
-	}
-
-	relutil.SortByRevision(h)
-	crls := h[len(h)-1]
 
 	rbv := req.Version
 	if req.Version == 0 {