something strange about describeImages

There appears to be something strange about the describeImages API call. Specifically, calling it with
imageId.1=emi-E027107D (e.g.

0000 00 00 03 04 00 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 ........ ........
0010 45 00 01 6d 25 7b 40 00 40 06 90 b7 c0 a8 01 04 E..m%{@. @.......
0020 c0 a8 01 04 bb 1c 22 45 92 59 c7 ce 91 af 82 13 ......"E .Y......
0030 80 18 01 01 84 b8 00 00 01 01 08 0a 00 37 e2 b4 ........ .....7..
0040 00 37 e2 b4 47 45 54 20 2f 73 65 72 76 69 63 65 .7..GET /service
0050 73 2f 45 75 63 61 6c 79 70 74 75 73 3f 41 63 74 s/Eucaly ptus?Act
0060 69 6f 6e 3d 44 65 73 63 72 69 62 65 49 6d 61 67 ion=Desc ribeImag
0070 65 73 26 41 57 53 41 63 63 65 73 73 4b 65 79 49 es&AWSAc cessKeyI
0080 64 3d 57 4b 79 33 72 4d 7a 4f 57 50 6f 75 56 4f d=WKy3rM zOWPouVO
0090 78 4b 31 70 33 41 72 31 43 32 75 52 42 77 61 32 xK1p3Ar1 C2uRBwa2
00a0 46 42 58 6e 43 77 26 49 6d 61 67 65 49 64 2e 31 FBXnCw&I mageId.1
00b0 3d 65 6d 69 2d 45 30 32 37 31 30 37 44 26 53 69 =emi-E02 7107D&Si
00c0 67 6e 61 74 75 72 65 56 65 72 73 69 6f 6e 3d 31 gnatureV ersion=1
00d0 26 54 69 6d 65 73 74 61 6d 70 3d 32 30 31 30 2d &Timesta mp=2010-
00e0 30 32 2d 31 31 54 30 37 25 33 41 32 33 25 33 41 02-11T07 %3A23%3A
00f0 30 33 5a 26 56 65 72 73 69 6f 6e 3d 32 30 30 39 03Z&Vers ion=2009
0100 2d 30 34 2d 30 34 26 53 69 67 6e 61 74 75 72 65 -04-04&S ignature
0110 3d 47 33 56 32 62 52 73 52 58 62 6c 32 48 77 71 =G3V2bRs RXbl2Hwq
0120 36 37 6b 35 25 32 42 68 44 42 76 69 36 67 25 33 67k5%2Bh DBvi6g%3
0130 44 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 55 73 65 72 D HTTP/1 .1..User
0140 2d 41 67 65 6e 74 3a 20 74 79 70 69 63 61 2f 31 -Agent: typica/1
0150 2e 36 20 28 61 6d 64 36 34 3b 20 4c 69 6e 75 78 .6 (amd6 4; Linux
0160 29 0d 0a 48 6f 73 74 3a 20 31 39 32 2e 31 36 38 )..Host: 192.168
0170 2e 31 2e 34 3a 38 37 37 33 0d 0a 0d 0a .1.4:877 3....

results in an empty response:
0000 00 00 03 04 00 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 ........ ........
0010 45 00 01 3e 60 a8 40 00 40 06 55 b9 c0 a8 01 04 E..>`.@. @.U.....
0020 c0 a8 01 04 22 45 bb 1c 91 af 82 13 92 59 c9 07 ...."E.. .....Y..
0030 80 18 01 09 84 89 00 00 01 01 08 0a 00 37 e2 ba ........ .....7..
0040 00 37 e2 b4 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 20 32 30 30 .7..HTTP /1.1 200
0050 20 4f 4b 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 4c 65 6e OK..Con tent-Len
0060 67 74 68 3a 20 31 38 30 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 6e gth: 180 ..Conten
0070 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 61 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 t-Type: applicat
0080 69 6f 6e 2f 78 6d 6c 3b 20 63 68 61 72 73 65 74 ion/xml; charset
0090 3d 55 54 46 2d 38 0d 0a 0d 0a 3c 44 65 73 63 72 =UTF-8.. ..<Descr
00a0 69 62 65 49 6d 61 67 65 73 52 65 73 70 6f 6e 73 ibeImage sRespons
00b0 65 20 78 6d 6c 6e 73 3d 22 68 74 74 70 3a 2f 2f e xmlns= "http://
00c0 65 63 32 2e 61 6d 61 7a 6f 6e 61 77 73 2e 63 6f ec2.amaz onaws.co
00d0 6d 2f 64 6f 63 2f 32 30 30 39 2d 30 34 2d 30 34 m/doc/20 09-04-04
00e0 2f 22 3e 3c 72 65 71 75 65 73 74 49 64 3e 35 63 /"><requ estId>5c
00f0 66 66 36 33 65 32 2d 36 66 62 39 2d 34 36 33 37 ff63e2-6 fb9-4637
0100 2d 61 65 31 65 2d 33 33 63 35 64 34 66 66 31 37 -ae1e-33 c5d4ff17
0110 36 31 3c 2f 72 65 71 75 65 73 74 49 64 3e 3c 69 61</requ estId><i
0120 6d 61 67 65 73 53 65 74 3e 3c 2f 69 6d 61 67 65 magesSet ></image
0130 73 53 65 74 3e 3c 2f 44 65 73 63 72 69 62 65 49 sSet></D escribeI
0140 6d 61 67 65 73 52 65 73 70 6f 6e 73 65 3e magesRes ponse>

yet the image is present and show by euca-describe-image
euca-describe-images emi-E027107D
IMAGE emi-E027107D image-store-1265758245/image.manifest.xml admin available public x86_64machine

The differences seem to be that euca-describe-image:
 - asks for all images
 - filters by executableBy.1=self and owner.1=self

0000 00 00 03 04 00 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 ........ ........
0010 45 00 01 b4 19 f5 40 00 40 06 9b f6 c0 a8 01 04 E.....@. @.......
0020 c0 a8 01 04 e4 e8 22 45 d8 05 e6 15 d7 c4 ab bb ......"E ........
0030 80 18 01 01 84 ff 00 00 01 01 08 0a 00 37 ff e7 ........ .....7..
0040 00 37 ff e7 47 45 54 20 2f 73 65 72 76 69 63 65 .7..GET /service
0050 73 2f 45 75 63 61 6c 79 70 74 75 73 2f 3f 41 57 s/Eucaly ptus/?AW
0060 53 41 63 63 65 73 73 4b 65 79 49 64 3d 57 4b 79 SAccessK eyId=WKy
0070 33 72 4d 7a 4f 57 50 6f 75 56 4f 78 4b 31 70 33 3rMzOWPo uVOxK1p3
0080 41 72 31 43 32 75 52 42 77 61 32 46 42 58 6e 43 Ar1C2uRB wa2FBXnC
0090 77 26 41 63 74 69 6f 6e 3d 44 65 73 63 72 69 62 w&Action =Describ
00a0 65 49 6d 61 67 65 73 26 45 78 65 63 75 74 61 62 eImages& Executab
00b0 6c 65 42 79 2e 31 3d 73 65 6c 66 26 4f 77 6e 65 leBy.1=s elf&Owne
00c0 72 2e 31 3d 73 65 6c 66 26 53 69 67 6e 61 74 75 r.1=self &Signatu
00d0 72 65 4d 65 74 68 6f 64 3d 48 6d 61 63 53 48 41 reMethod =HmacSHA
00e0 32 35 36 26 53 69 67 6e 61 74 75 72 65 56 65 72 256&Sign atureVer
00f0 73 69 6f 6e 3d 32 26 54 69 6d 65 73 74 61 6d 70 sion=2&T imestamp
0100 3d 32 30 31 30 2d 30 32 2d 31 31 54 30 37 25 33 =2010-02 -11T07%3
0110 41 32 34 25 33 41 31 38 26 56 65 72 73 69 6f 6e A24%3A18 &Version
0120 3d 32 30 30 39 2d 30 34 2d 30 34 26 53 69 67 6e =2009-04 -04&Sign
0130 61 74 75 72 65 3d 53 4a 79 34 6e 59 5a 30 35 4e ature=SJ y4nYZ05N
0140 6a 76 30 41 4b 33 67 77 63 42 59 4c 58 59 64 57 jv0AK3gw cBYLXYdW
0150 2f 67 37 77 6a 37 42 4a 44 77 4a 6a 53 6e 79 74 /g7wj7BJ DwJjSnyt
0160 41 25 33 44 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 48 A%3D HTT P/1.1..H
0170 6f 73 74 3a 20 31 39 32 2e 31 36 38 2e 31 2e 34 ost: 192 .168.1.4
0180 3a 38 37 37 33 0d 0a 41 63 63 65 70 74 2d 45 6e :8773..A ccept-En
0190 63 6f 64 69 6e 67 3a 20 69 64 65 6e 74 69 74 79 coding: identity
01a0 0d 0a 55 73 65 72 2d 41 67 65 6e 74 3a 20 42 6f ..User-A gent: Bo
01b0 74 6f 2f 31 2e 38 64 20 28 6c 69 6e 75 78 32 29 to/1.8d (linux2)
01c0 0d 0a 0d 0a ....

I imagine that this is just an oversight somewhere in the service guts. It breaks Hudson's 'check the AMI is available' feature though.