diff --git a/app/controllers/polling_controller.rb b/app/controllers/polling_controller.rb
index cb70e98..e67c640 100644
--- a/app/controllers/polling_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/polling_controller.rb
@@ -1,20 +1,17 @@
 class PollingController < ApplicationController
   def alerts
     alerts = []
-    installing_gems.each do |plugin|
-      target = plugin.gem_name.dup
-      target << "(#{plugin.version})" if plugin.version
-      alerts << {
-        text: I18n.t('terms.installing', target: target)
-      }
-    end
-    uninstalling_gems.each do |plugin|
-      target = plugin.gem_name.dup
-      target << "(#{plugin.version})" if plugin.version
-      alerts << {
-        text: I18n.t('terms.uninstalling', target: target)
-      }
+
+    %w{ installing uninstalling }.each do |action|
+      send("#{action}_gems").each do |plugin|
+        target = plugin.gem_name.dup
+        target << "(#{plugin.version})" if plugin.version
+        alerts << {
+          text: I18n.t("terms.#{action}", target: target)
+        }
+      end
     end
+
     render json: alerts
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/polling_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/polling_controller_spec.rb
index f76a2de..9a81618 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/polling_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/polling_controller_spec.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,39 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe PollingController do
+  describe 'polling for alerts' do
+    before do
+      allow(controller).to receive(:current_user).and_return true
+    end
 
+    after do
+      response.should be_success
+    end
+
+    it 'may find nothing' do
+      expect(controller).to receive(:uninstalling_gems).and_return []
+      expect(controller).to receive(:installing_gems).and_return []
+      get :alerts
+    end
+
+    it 'may find gems being uninstalled' do
+      expect(controller).to receive(:uninstalling_gems).and_return [
+        double(gem_name: "foobar", version: "1.0.0")
+      ]
+
+      allow(controller).to receive(:installing_gems).and_return []
+
+      get :alerts
+    end
+
+    it 'may find gems being installed' do
+      expect(controller).to receive(:installing_gems).and_return [
+        double(gem_name: "bazbang", version: "0.0.1")
+      ]
+
+      allow(controller).to receive(:uninstalling_gems).and_return []
+
+      get :alerts
+    end
+  end
 end