diff --git a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/JsonPath.java b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/JsonPath.java
index bcbd3c8b..3e280673 100644
--- a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/JsonPath.java
+++ b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/JsonPath.java
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
 
 import static com.jayway.jsonpath.Option.ALWAYS_RETURN_LIST;
 import static com.jayway.jsonpath.Option.AS_PATH_LIST;
@@ -255,11 +257,24 @@ public class JsonPath {
     public <T> T delete(Object jsonObject, Configuration configuration) {
         notNull(jsonObject, "json can not be null");
         notNull(configuration, "configuration can not be null");
-        EvaluationContext evaluationContext = path.evaluate(jsonObject, jsonObject, configuration, true);
-        for (PathRef updateOperation : evaluationContext.updateOperations()) {
-            updateOperation.delete(configuration);
+
+        boolean optSuppressExceptions = configuration.containsOption(Option.SUPPRESS_EXCEPTIONS);
+
+        try {
+            EvaluationContext evaluationContext = path.evaluate(jsonObject, jsonObject, configuration, true);
+            for (PathRef updateOperation : evaluationContext.updateOperations()) {
+                updateOperation.delete(configuration);
+            }
+            return resultByConfiguration(jsonObject, configuration, evaluationContext);
+        } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+            if (!optSuppressExceptions) {
+                throw e;
+            } else {
+                List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();  // the log messages
+                list.add("delete throws "+e.getMessage());  // TODO
+                return (T) list;
+            }
         }
-        return resultByConfiguration(jsonObject, configuration, evaluationContext);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Issue_721.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Issue_721.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..98a7ee61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Issue_721.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package com.jayway.jsonpath;
+
+import com.jayway.jsonpath.Configuration;
+import com.jayway.jsonpath.DocumentContext;
+import com.jayway.jsonpath.JsonPath;
+import com.jayway.jsonpath.Option;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class Issue_721 {
+
+    public static final Configuration jsonConf = Configuration.defaultConfiguration().addOptions(Option.SUPPRESS_EXCEPTIONS);
+
+    @Test
+    public void test_delete_1(){  // originally throws PathNotFoundException
+        DocumentContext dc = JsonPath.using(jsonConf)
+                    .parse("{\"top\": {\"middle\": null}}")
+                    .delete(JsonPath.compile("$.top.middle.bottom"));
+        Object ans = dc.read("$");
+        //System.out.println(ans);
+        assert(ans.toString().equals("{top={middle=null}}"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void test_delete_2(){  // originally passed
+        DocumentContext dc = JsonPath.using(jsonConf)
+                .parse("[" +
+                        "{\"top\": {\"middle\": null}}," +
+                        "{\"top\": {\"middle\": {}  }}," +
+                        "{\"top\": {\"middle\": {bottom: 2}  }}," +
+                        "]")
+                .delete(JsonPath.compile("$[*].top.middle.bottom"));
+        Object ans = dc.read("$");
+        //System.out.println(ans);
+        assert(ans.toString().equals("[{\"top\":{\"middle\":null}},{\"top\":{\"middle\":{}}},{\"top\":{\"middle\":{}}}]"));
+    }
+}