diff --git a/google/resource_compute_backend_service.go b/google/resource_compute_backend_service.go
index 41de49bf..515ea6de 100644
--- a/google/resource_compute_backend_service.go
+++ b/google/resource_compute_backend_service.go
@@ -1480,6 +1480,10 @@ func resourceComputeBackendServiceDecoder(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface
 	// We need to pretend IAP isn't there if it's disabled for Terraform to maintain
 	// BC behaviour with the handwritten resource.
 	v, ok := res["iap"]
+	if !ok || v == nil {
+		delete(res, "iap")
+		return res, nil
+	}
 	m := v.(map[string]interface{})
 	if ok && m["enabled"] == false {
 		delete(res, "iap")