diff --git a/cmd/delete_test.go b/cmd/delete_test.go
index d5f3291..ae5c617 100644
--- a/cmd/delete_test.go
+++ b/cmd/delete_test.go
@@ -100,6 +100,29 @@ b:
 	test.AssertResult(t, expectedOutput, result.Output)
 }
 
+func TestDeleteDeepSplatArrayYaml(t *testing.T) {
+	content := `thing: 123
+b:
+ hi:
+  - thing: item1
+    name: fred
+`
+	filename := test.WriteTempYamlFile(content)
+	defer test.RemoveTempYamlFile(filename)
+
+	cmd := getRootCommand()
+	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, fmt.Sprintf("delete %s **.thing", filename))
+	if result.Error != nil {
+		t.Error(result.Error)
+	}
+
+	expectedOutput := `b:
+  hi:
+    - name: fred
+`
+	test.AssertResult(t, expectedOutput, result.Output)
+}
+
 func TestDeleteSplatPrefixYaml(t *testing.T) {
 	content := `a: 2
 b:
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/data_navigator.go b/pkg/yqlib/data_navigator.go
index e194e20..9239bcb 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/data_navigator.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/data_navigator.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ func NewDataNavigator(NavigationStrategy NavigationStrategy) DataNavigator {
 func (n *navigator) Traverse(value *yaml.Node, path []interface{}) error {
 	realValue := value
 	emptyArray := make([]interface{}, 0)
+	log.Debugf("Traversing path %v", pathStackToString(path))
 	if realValue.Kind == yaml.DocumentNode {
 		log.Debugf("its a document! returning the first child")
 		return n.doTraverse(value.Content[0], "", path, emptyArray)
@@ -68,6 +69,16 @@ func (n *navigator) getOrReplace(original *yaml.Node, expectedKind yaml.Kind) *y
 
 func (n *navigator) recurse(value *yaml.Node, head interface{}, tail []interface{}, pathStack []interface{}) error {
 	log.Debug("recursing, processing %v, pathStack %v", head, pathStackToString(pathStack))
+
+	nodeContext := NewNodeContext(value, head, tail, pathStack)
+
+	if head == "**" && !n.navigationStrategy.ShouldOnlyDeeplyVisitLeaves(nodeContext) {
+		errorVisitingDeeply := n.navigationStrategy.Visit(nodeContext)
+		if errorVisitingDeeply != nil {
+			return errorVisitingDeeply
+		}
+	}
+
 	switch value.Kind {
 	case yaml.MappingNode:
 		log.Debug("its a map with %v entries", len(value.Content)/2)
@@ -85,20 +96,20 @@ func (n *navigator) recurse(value *yaml.Node, head interface{}, tail []interface
 			if head == "+" {
 				return n.appendArray(value, head, tail, pathStack)
 			} else if len(value.Content) == 0 && head == "**" {
-				return n.navigationStrategy.Visit(NewNodeContext(value, head, tail, pathStack))
+				return n.navigationStrategy.Visit(nodeContext)
 			}
 			return n.splatArray(value, head, tail, pathStack)
 		}
 	case yaml.AliasNode:
 		log.Debug("its an alias!")
 		DebugNode(value.Alias)
-		if n.navigationStrategy.FollowAlias(NewNodeContext(value, head, tail, pathStack)) {
+		if n.navigationStrategy.FollowAlias(nodeContext) {
 			log.Debug("following the alias")
 			return n.recurse(value.Alias, head, tail, pathStack)
 		}
 		return nil
 	default:
-		return n.navigationStrategy.Visit(NewNodeContext(value, head, tail, pathStack))
+		return n.navigationStrategy.Visit(nodeContext)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/delete_navigation_strategy.go b/pkg/yqlib/delete_navigation_strategy.go
index 4c64cf0..3f397b9 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/delete_navigation_strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/delete_navigation_strategy.go
@@ -18,9 +18,12 @@ func DeleteNavigationStrategy(pathElementToDelete interface{}) NavigationStrateg
 		shouldDeeplyTraverse: func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool {
 			return true
 		},
+		shouldOnlyDeeplyVisitLeaves: func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool {
+			return false
+		},
 		visit: func(nodeContext NodeContext) error {
 			node := nodeContext.Node
-			log.Debug("need to find and delete %v in here", pathElementToDelete)
+			log.Debug("need to find and delete %v in here (%v)", pathElementToDelete, pathStackToString(nodeContext.PathStack))
 			DebugNode(node)
 			if node.Kind == yaml.SequenceNode {
 				newContent := deleteFromArray(parser, node.Content, nodeContext.PathStack, pathElementToDelete)
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/navigation_strategy.go b/pkg/yqlib/navigation_strategy.go
index 8f5efc5..81a1ce7 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/navigation_strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/navigation_strategy.go
@@ -35,19 +35,22 @@ type NavigationStrategy interface {
 	// we use it to match against the pathExpression in head.
 	ShouldTraverse(nodeContext NodeContext, nodeKey string) bool
 	ShouldDeeplyTraverse(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
+	// when deeply traversing, should we visit all matching nodes, or just leaves?
+	ShouldOnlyDeeplyVisitLeaves(NodeContext) bool
 	GetVisitedNodes() []*NodeContext
 	DebugVisitedNodes()
 	GetPathParser() PathParser
 }
 
 type NavigationStrategyImpl struct {
-	followAlias          func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
-	autoCreateMap        func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
-	visit                func(nodeContext NodeContext) error
-	shouldVisitExtraFn   func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
-	shouldDeeplyTraverse func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
-	visitedNodes         []*NodeContext
-	pathParser           PathParser
+	followAlias                 func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
+	autoCreateMap               func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
+	visit                       func(nodeContext NodeContext) error
+	shouldVisitExtraFn          func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
+	shouldDeeplyTraverse        func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
+	shouldOnlyDeeplyVisitLeaves func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool
+	visitedNodes                []*NodeContext
+	pathParser                  PathParser
 }
 
 func (ns *NavigationStrategyImpl) GetPathParser() PathParser {
@@ -70,6 +73,10 @@ func (ns *NavigationStrategyImpl) ShouldDeeplyTraverse(nodeContext NodeContext)
 	return ns.shouldDeeplyTraverse(nodeContext)
 }
 
+func (ns *NavigationStrategyImpl) ShouldOnlyDeeplyVisitLeaves(nodeContext NodeContext) bool {
+	return ns.shouldOnlyDeeplyVisitLeaves(nodeContext)
+}
+
 func (ns *NavigationStrategyImpl) ShouldTraverse(nodeContext NodeContext, nodeKey string) bool {
 	// we should traverse aliases (if enabled), but not visit them :/
 	if len(nodeContext.PathStack) == 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/read_navigation_strategy.go b/pkg/yqlib/read_navigation_strategy.go
index 0e02d52..98b2df3 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/read_navigation_strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/read_navigation_strategy.go
@@ -26,5 +26,8 @@ func ReadNavigationStrategy(deeplyTraverseArrays bool) NavigationStrategy {
 			}
 			return deeplyTraverseArrays || !isInArray
 		},
+		shouldOnlyDeeplyVisitLeaves: func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool {
+			return true
+		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/update_navigation_strategy.go b/pkg/yqlib/update_navigation_strategy.go
index 557ead5..e90c7bd 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/update_navigation_strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/update_navigation_strategy.go
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ func UpdateNavigationStrategy(updateCommand UpdateCommand, autoCreate bool) Navi
 		shouldDeeplyTraverse: func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool {
 			return true
 		},
+		shouldOnlyDeeplyVisitLeaves: func(nodeContext NodeContext) bool {
+			return true
+		},
 		visit: func(nodeContext NodeContext) error {
 			node := nodeContext.Node
 			changesToApply := updateCommand.Value