diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/ConfigImporter.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/ConfigImporter.php
index 2f6e8fe..8888b4e 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/ConfigImporter.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/ConfigImporter.php
@@ -214,7 +214,9 @@ public function import() {
       //   https://drupal.org/node/2080823
       foreach (array('delete', 'create', 'update') as $op) {
         foreach ($this->getUnprocessed($op) as $name) {
-          $this->process($op, $name);
+          if ($this->checkOp($op, $name)) {
+            $this->process($op, $name);
+          }
         }
       }
       // Allow modules to react to a import.
@@ -271,6 +273,8 @@ protected function process($op, $name) {
    * @param string $name
    *   The name of the configuration to process.
    *
+   * @throws \Drupal\Core\Config\ConfigImporterException
+   *
    * @return bool
    *   TRUE is to continue processing, FALSE otherwise.
    */
@@ -297,7 +301,7 @@ protected function checkOp($op, $name) {
 
       case 'update':
         if (!$target_exists) {
-          // Error?
+          throw new ConfigImporterException(String::format('Update target "@name" is missing.', array('@name' => $name)));
         }
         break;
     }