diff --git a/pkg/build/controller/buildconfig/buildconfig_controller.go b/pkg/build/controller/buildconfig/buildconfig_controller.go
index 3dac6e8be772..807377d00683 100644
--- a/pkg/build/controller/buildconfig/buildconfig_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/build/controller/buildconfig/buildconfig_controller.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package controller
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
@@ -136,7 +137,11 @@ func (c *BuildConfigController) handleBuildConfig(bc *buildapi.BuildConfig) erro
 		} else if buildgenerator.IsFatal(err) || kerrors.IsNotFound(err) || kerrors.IsBadRequest(err) || kerrors.IsForbidden(err) {
 			instantiateErr = fmt.Errorf("gave up on Build for BuildConfig %s due to fatal error: %v", bcDesc(bc), err)
 			utilruntime.HandleError(instantiateErr)
-			c.recorder.Event(bc, kapi.EventTypeWarning, "BuildConfigInstantiateFailed", instantiateErr.Error())
+			// Fixes https://github.com/openshift/origin/issues/16557
+			// Caused by a race condition between the ImageChangeTrigger and BuildConfigChangeTrigger
+			if !strings.Contains(instantiateErr.Error(), "does not match the build request LastVersion(0)") {
+				c.recorder.Event(bc, kapi.EventTypeWarning, "BuildConfigInstantiateFailed", instantiateErr.Error())
+			}
 			return &configControllerFatalError{err.Error()}
 		} else {
 			instantiateErr = fmt.Errorf("error instantiating Build from BuildConfig %s: %v", bcDesc(bc), err)
diff --git a/pkg/build/generator/generator.go b/pkg/build/generator/generator.go
index 9b5ec74f2c64..bd438f5ddbb4 100644
--- a/pkg/build/generator/generator.go
+++ b/pkg/build/generator/generator.go
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ func (g *BuildGenerator) instantiate(ctx apirequest.Context, request *buildapi.B
 	return g.createBuild(ctx, newBuild)
 }
 
-// checkBuildConfigLastVersion will return an error if the BuildConfig's LastVersion doesn't match the passed in lastVersion
+// checkLastVersion will return an error if the BuildConfig's LastVersion doesn't match the passed in lastVersion
 // when lastVersion is not nil
 func (g *BuildGenerator) checkLastVersion(bc *buildapi.BuildConfig, lastVersion *int64) error {
 	if lastVersion != nil && bc.Status.LastVersion != *lastVersion {
diff --git a/test/cmd/newapp.sh b/test/cmd/newapp.sh
index f1d23f44ea2c..f303cac0c9e8 100755
--- a/test/cmd/newapp.sh
+++ b/test/cmd/newapp.sh
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ os::cmd::expect_success 'oc delete all -l app=expose-output'
 os::cmd::expect_success_and_text 'oc new-app mysql --as-test' 'Application is not exposed'
 os::cmd::expect_success 'oc delete all -l app=mysql'
 
+# ensure that oc new-app does not emit a BuildConfigInstantiateFailed event when creating
+# a new application
+os::cmd::expect_success 'oc new-app https://github.com/sclorg/ruby-ex'
+os::cmd::expect_success_and_not_text 'oc describe bc/ruby-ex' 'BuildConfigInstantiateFailed'
+os::cmd::expect_success 'oc delete all -l app=ruby-ex'
+
 # test that imagestream references across imagestreams do not cause an error
 os::cmd::try_until_success 'oc get imagestreamtags ruby:2.3'
 os::cmd::expect_success 'oc create -f test/testdata/newapp/imagestream-ref.yaml'