1 files changed, 3 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/config-model-api/src/main/java/com/yahoo/config/application/api/xml/DeploymentSpecXmlReader.java b/config-model-api/src/main/java/com/yahoo/config/application/api/xml/DeploymentSpecXmlReader.java
index 68f27a21ce4..6519a6f50af 100644
--- a/config-model-api/src/main/java/com/yahoo/config/application/api/xml/DeploymentSpecXmlReader.java
+++ b/config-model-api/src/main/java/com/yahoo/config/application/api/xml/DeploymentSpecXmlReader.java
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ public class DeploymentSpecXmlReader {
                                                              Element instanceTag,
                                                              MutableOptional<String> globalServiceId,
                                                              Element parentTag) {
+        if (isEmptySpec(instanceTag))
+            return List.of();
+
         if (validate)
             validateTagOrder(instanceTag);