diff --git a/cmd/stunnerctl/main.go b/cmd/stunnerctl/main.go
index ed7f3ab4..a874f976 100644
--- a/cmd/stunnerctl/main.go
+++ b/cmd/stunnerctl/main.go
@@ -169,6 +169,10 @@ func runConfig(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	}
 
 	for c := range confChan {
+		if cdsclient.IsConfigDeleted(c) {
+			fmt.Printf("Gateway: %s <deleted>\n", c.Admin.Name)
+			continue
+		}
 		switch output {
 		case "yaml":
 			if out, err := yaml.Marshal(c); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/config/cds_test.go b/pkg/config/cds_test.go
index fdfb6a08..c53daa7b 100644
--- a/pkg/config/cds_test.go
+++ b/pkg/config/cds_test.go
@@ -946,9 +946,7 @@ func TestServerAPI(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NotNil(t, findConfById(lst, "ns3/gw1"))
 	assert.True(t, findConfById(lst, "ns3/gw1").DeepEqual(sc4), "deepeq")
 	assert.NotNil(t, findConfById(lst, "ns1/gw2"))
-	gw2zero := client.ZeroConfig("ns1/gw2") // deleted!
-	assert.NoError(t, gw2zero.Validate())
-	assert.True(t, findConfById(lst, "ns1/gw2").DeepEqual(gw2zero), "deepeq")
+	assert.True(t, client.IsConfigDeleted(findConfById(lst, "ns1/gw2")), "deepeq")
 
 	// 1 config from client2 watch (removed config never updated)
 	s1 = watchConfig(ch2, 50*time.Millisecond)
@@ -956,7 +954,7 @@ func TestServerAPI(t *testing.T) {
 	s2 = watchConfig(ch2, 50*time.Millisecond)
 	assert.NotNil(t, s2)
 	assert.True(t, s1.DeepEqual(sc1), "deepeq")
-	assert.True(t, s2.DeepEqual(gw2zero), "deepeq") // deleted!
+	assert.True(t, client.IsConfigDeleted(s2), "deepeq") // deleted!
 
 	// no config from client3 watch
 	s = watchConfig(ch3, 50*time.Millisecond)
diff --git a/pkg/config/client/config.go b/pkg/config/client/config.go
index 001ceeba..f25916c2 100644
--- a/pkg/config/client/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/client/config.go
@@ -122,3 +122,19 @@ func parseRaw(c []byte) (*stnrv1.StunnerConfig, error) {
 
 	return &s, nil
 }
+
+// IsConfigDeleted is a helper that allows to decide whether a config is being deleted. When a
+// config is being removed (say, because the corresponding Gateway is deleted), the CDS server
+// sends a validated zero-config for the client. This function is a quick helper to decide whether
+// the config received is such a zero-config.
+func IsConfigDeleted(conf *stnrv1.StunnerConfig) bool {
+	if conf == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	zeroConf := ZeroConfig(conf.Admin.Name)
+	// zeroconfs have to be explcitly validated before deepEq (the cds client validates)
+	if err := zeroConf.Validate(); err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return conf.DeepEqual(zeroConf)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/config/server/server.go b/pkg/config/server/server.go
index 1f3d15db..b900913e 100644
--- a/pkg/config/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/config/server/server.go
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ func (s *Server) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 				s.broadcastConfig(c)
 
 			case c := <-s.deleteCh:
-				// delayed config deletion
+				s.log.V(2).Info("initiating deleyed config deletion", "id", c.Id)
+
 				go func() {
 					select {
 					case <-ctx.Done():
@@ -206,15 +207,12 @@ func (s *Server) sendConfig(conn *Conn, e *stnrv1.StunnerConfig) {
 
 	json, err := json.Marshal(c)
 	if err != nil {
-		s.log.Error(err, "cannor JSON serialize config", "event", e.String())
+		s.log.Error(err, "cannot JSON serialize config", "event", e.String())
 		return
 	}
 
-	s.sendJSONConfig(conn, json)
-}
-
-func (s *Server) sendJSONConfig(conn *Conn, json []byte) {
-	s.log.V(2).Info("sending configuration to client", "client", conn.Id())
+	s.log.V(2).Info("sending configuration to client", "client", conn.Id(),
+		"config", c.String())
 
 	if err := conn.WriteMessage(websocket.TextMessage, json); err != nil {
 		s.log.Error(err, "error sending config update", "client", conn.Id())