diff --git a/helenus-core.iml b/helenus-core.iml
index 42b1cc5..77f2a38 100644
--- a/helenus-core.iml
+++ b/helenus-core.iml
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
     </content>
     <orderEntry type="inheritedJdk" />
     <orderEntry type="sourceFolder" forTests="false" />
+    <orderEntry type="library" name="Maven: io.dropwizard.metrics:metrics-core:3.2.2" level="project" />
+    <orderEntry type="library" scope="TEST" name="Maven: com.github.ben-manes.caffeine:caffeine:2.2.6" level="project" />
     <orderEntry type="library" name="Maven: org.scala-lang:scala-library:2.13.0-M1" level="project" />
     <orderEntry type="library" name="Maven: com.datastax.cassandra:cassandra-driver-core:3.3.0" level="project" />
     <orderEntry type="library" name="Maven: io.netty:netty-handler:4.0.47.Final" level="project" />
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index fec721c..89abb41 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
     <groupId>net.helenus</groupId>
     <artifactId>helenus-core</artifactId>
-    <version>2.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.0.5-SNAPSHOT</version>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <name>helenus</name>
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/operation/AbstractStatementOperation.java b/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/operation/AbstractStatementOperation.java
index c360705..c15b372 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/operation/AbstractStatementOperation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/operation/AbstractStatementOperation.java
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractStatementOperation<E, O extends AbstractStatementO
 
 	public String cql() {
 		Statement statement = buildStatement();
+		if (statement == null) return "";
 		if (statement instanceof BuiltStatement) {
 			BuiltStatement buildStatement = (BuiltStatement) statement;
 			return buildStatement.setForceNoValues(true).getQueryString();
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/operation/InsertOperation.java b/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/operation/InsertOperation.java
index 5744448..403c4b2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/operation/InsertOperation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/operation/InsertOperation.java
@@ -15,19 +15,21 @@
  */
 package net.helenus.core.operation;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Objects;
-import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.*;
 
 import com.datastax.driver.core.ResultSet;
 import com.datastax.driver.core.querybuilder.BuiltStatement;
 import com.datastax.driver.core.querybuilder.Insert;
 import com.datastax.driver.core.querybuilder.QueryBuilder;
 
+import com.google.common.base.Predicates;
+import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
 import net.helenus.core.AbstractSessionOperations;
 import net.helenus.core.Getter;
 import net.helenus.core.reflect.HelenusPropertyNode;
+import net.helenus.core.reflect.MapExportable;
+import net.helenus.mapping.ColumnType;
 import net.helenus.mapping.HelenusEntity;
 import net.helenus.mapping.HelenusProperty;
 import net.helenus.mapping.MappingUtil;
@@ -55,17 +57,26 @@ public final class InsertOperation extends AbstractOperation<ResultSet, InsertOp
 			boolean ifNotExists) {
 		super(sessionOperations);
 
+		this.entity = entity;
 		this.ifNotExists = ifNotExists;
+        Set<String> keys = (pojo instanceof MapExportable) ? ((MapExportable)pojo).toMap().keySet() : null;
+        Collection<HelenusProperty> properties = entity.getOrderedProperties();
 
-		for (HelenusProperty prop : entity.getOrderedProperties()) {
+        for (HelenusProperty prop : properties) {
 
-			Object value = BeanColumnValueProvider.INSTANCE.getColumnValue(pojo, -1, prop);
-			value = sessionOps.getValuePreparer().prepareColumnValue(value, prop);
+            // Skip properties that are not in the map of the pojo we're storing.  This creates a path
+            // for entity instances to be {in,up}serted without including all columns in the INSERT statement.
+		    if (keys == null || keys.contains(prop.getPropertyName())) {
 
-			if (value != null) {
-				HelenusPropertyNode node = new HelenusPropertyNode(prop, Optional.empty());
-				values.add(Fun.Tuple2.of(node, value));
-			}
+                Object value = BeanColumnValueProvider.INSTANCE.getColumnValue(pojo, -1, prop);
+                value = sessionOps.getValuePreparer().prepareColumnValue(value, prop);
+
+                if (value != null) {
+                    HelenusPropertyNode node = new HelenusPropertyNode(prop, Optional.empty());
+                    values.add(Fun.Tuple2.of(node, value));
+                }
+
+            }
 
 		}
 
@@ -102,6 +113,9 @@ public final class InsertOperation extends AbstractOperation<ResultSet, InsertOp
 
 		values.forEach(t -> addPropertyNode(t._1));
 
+		if (values.isEmpty())
+		    return null;
+
 		if (entity == null) {
 			throw new HelenusMappingException("unknown entity");
 		}
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/reflect/MapperInvocationHandler.java b/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/reflect/MapperInvocationHandler.java
index c244666..99b3fd6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/reflect/MapperInvocationHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/helenus/core/reflect/MapperInvocationHandler.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public class MapperInvocationHandler<E> implements InvocationHandler {
 
 		Object value = src.get(methodName);
 
-		if (value == null && src.containsKey(methodName)) {
+		if (value == null) {
 
             Class<?> returnType = method.getReturnType();
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/net/helenus/test/integration/core/compound/CompondKeyTest.java b/src/test/java/net/helenus/test/integration/core/compound/CompondKeyTest.java
index bc448dc..3241cc6 100644
--- a/src/test/java/net/helenus/test/integration/core/compound/CompondKeyTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/net/helenus/test/integration/core/compound/CompondKeyTest.java
@@ -54,9 +54,7 @@ public class CompondKeyTest extends AbstractEmbeddedCassandraTest {
 		public String text() {
 			return text;
 		}
-		
-		
-		
+
 	}
 	
 	@Before