diff --git a/libraries/zookeeper_config.rb b/libraries/zookeeper_config.rb
index 78b806b..0759860 100644
--- a/libraries/zookeeper_config.rb
+++ b/libraries/zookeeper_config.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ class ZookeeperConfig < Chef::Resource
       attribute(:group, kind_of: String, default: 'zookeeper')
 
       attribute(:instance_name, kind_of: String, required: true)
+      attribute(:instance_id, kind_of: String, default: lazy { ensemble.index(instance_name).next.to_s })
+      alias_method :myid, :instance_id
       attribute(:data_dir, kind_of: String, default: '/var/lib/zookeeper')
       attribute(:client_port, kind_of: Integer, default: 2181)
       attribute(:leader_port, kind_of: Integer, default: 2888)
@@ -33,10 +35,6 @@ class ZookeeperConfig < Chef::Resource
       attribute(:ensemble, kind_of: Array, default: [], required: true)
       attribute(:properties, option_collector: true, default: {})
 
-      def myid
-        ensemble.index(instance_name).next.to_s
-      end
-
       # Outputs the +properties+ in the Java Properties file format. This is
       # what Zookeeper daemon consumes to tweak its internal configuration.
       def to_s
@@ -67,9 +65,22 @@ def to_s
             mode '0644'
           end
 
-          file new_resource.path do
+          # create zoo.properties.static file and only update 
+          # zoo.properties when static file has changed.
+          # this is needed to ensure chef won't constantly update
+          # zoo.properties and force restarts of zookeeper when
+          # it dynamically updates zoo.properties.
+          file new_resource.path+".static" do
+            content new_resource.to_s
+            mode '0644'
+            notifies :create, 'file[config_base]', :immediately
+          end
+
+          file 'config_base' do
             content new_resource.to_s
+            path new_resource.path
             mode '0644'
+            action :nothing       
           end
         end
       end
diff --git a/metadata.rb b/metadata.rb
index 0a8decc..010a7ea 100644
--- a/metadata.rb
+++ b/metadata.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 license 'Apache 2.0'
 description 'Application cookbook which installs and configures a Zookeeper cluster.'
 long_description 'Application cookbook which installs and configures a Zookeeper cluster.'
-version '1.3.2'
+version '1.3.4'
 
 supports 'ubuntu', '>= 12.04'
 supports 'centos', '>= 6.6'