diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/junos.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/junos.py
index 94e41e8d8a..bf4e797cbe 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/junos.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/junos.py
@@ -169,6 +169,9 @@ def get_diff(module):
 def load_config(module, candidate, warnings, action='merge', commit=False, format='xml',
                 comment=None, confirm=False, confirm_timeout=None):
 
+    if not candidate:
+        return
+
     with locked_config(module):
         if isinstance(candidate, list):
             candidate = '\n'.join(candidate)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/network/junos/junos_config.py b/lib/ansible/modules/network/junos/junos_config.py
index a0783b79f0..16a62d719e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/network/junos/junos_config.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/network/junos/junos_config.py
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ def filter_delete_statements(module, candidate):
     config = to_native(match.text, encoding='latin1')
 
     modified_candidate = candidate[:]
-    for index, line in enumerate(candidate):
+    for index, line in reversed(list(enumerate(candidate))):
         if line.startswith('delete'):
             newline = re.sub('^delete', 'set', line)
             if newline not in config: