diff --git a/lib/northbound.c b/lib/northbound.c
index 8a5cd0ef14..b2ae1f66cb 100644
--- a/lib/northbound.c
+++ b/lib/northbound.c
@@ -504,7 +504,9 @@ int nb_candidate_edit(struct nb_config *candidate,
 		 */
 		if (dnode) {
 			lyd_schema_sort(dnode, 0);
-			lyd_validate(&dnode, LYD_OPT_CONFIG, ly_native_ctx);
+			lyd_validate(&dnode,
+				     LYD_OPT_CONFIG | LYD_OPT_WHENAUTODEL,
+				     ly_native_ctx);
 		}
 		break;
 	case NB_OP_DESTROY:
@@ -570,7 +572,8 @@ int nb_candidate_update(struct nb_config *candidate)
  */
 static int nb_candidate_validate_yang(struct nb_config *candidate)
 {
-	if (lyd_validate(&candidate->dnode, LYD_OPT_STRICT | LYD_OPT_CONFIG,
+	if (lyd_validate(&candidate->dnode,
+			 LYD_OPT_STRICT | LYD_OPT_CONFIG | LYD_OPT_WHENAUTODEL,
 			 ly_native_ctx)
 	    != 0)
 		return NB_ERR_VALIDATION;