This document describes techniques and apparatuses for handling radio resource control (RRC) cell group configuration. In implementations, a base station (120) receives a first radio resource control message that requests a connection procedure between a user equipment (110) and the base station (e.g., 325, 425, 1325), such as a radio resource control resume request or a radio resource setup request. In response to receiving the first radio resource control message, the base station (120) generates a second radio resource control message that includes a cell-group-configuration information element that excludes a reconfiguration-with-sync information element (e.g., 330, 430, 1330). The base station (120) then transmits the second radio resource control message to the user equipment (110) (e.g., 335, 435, 1345). Afterward, the base station (120) receives, from the user equipment (110), a third radio resource control message that indicates the connection procedure is complete (e.g., 340, 440, 1350).