diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/core/IndexDeletionPolicyWrapper.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/core/IndexDeletionPolicyWrapper.java
index 57692e845c0..21de0db6009 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/core/IndexDeletionPolicyWrapper.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/core/IndexDeletionPolicyWrapper.java
@@ -237,7 +237,9 @@ public final class IndexDeletionPolicyWrapper extends IndexDeletionPolicy {
         map.put(wrapper.delegate.getGeneration(), wrapper.delegate);
     }
     solrVersionVsCommits = map;
-    latestCommit = ((list.get(list.size() - 1)).delegate);
+    if (!list.isEmpty()) {
+      latestCommit = ((list.get(list.size() - 1)).delegate);
+    }
   }
 
   public static long getCommitTimestamp(IndexCommit commit) throws IOException {
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/core/SolrDeletionPolicy.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/core/SolrDeletionPolicy.java
index bdfc8f3950e..3702d4b9b00 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/core/SolrDeletionPolicy.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/core/SolrDeletionPolicy.java
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ public class SolrDeletionPolicy extends IndexDeletionPolicy implements NamedList
   @Override
   public void onInit(List commits) throws IOException {
     // SOLR-4547: log basic data at INFO, add filenames at DEBUG.
+    if (commits.isEmpty()) {
+      return;
+    }
     log.info("SolrDeletionPolicy.onInit: commits: {}",
         new CommitsLoggingInfo(commits));
     log.debug("SolrDeletionPolicy.onInit: commits: {}",