Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may receive a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message from a base station including a configuration for communicating with the base station, and the base station may transmit an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the base station (e.g., in response to the RRC reconfiguration message). The UE may then apply the configuration in the RRC reconfiguration message for communicating with the base station after transmitting the RRC reconfiguration complete message. That is, the UE may delay application of the configuration in the RRC reconfiguration message until after the UE transmits the RRC reconfiguration complete message. Using these techniques, ambiguity between the base station and the UE on when the configuration is applied by the UE may be minimized, resulting in improved throughput and reduced latency in a wireless communications system.