diff --git a/ckanext/odsh/validation.py b/ckanext/odsh/validation.py
index 06de68245fa518b524dc537b4906bd2a0c9d534f..1233070ad1bc1c007952b02d4113f2b6427ef991 100644
--- a/ckanext/odsh/validation.py
+++ b/ckanext/odsh/validation.py
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ def validate_extra_groups(data, requireAtLeastOne, errors):
             data[('groups', num, 'id')] = group
     else: # no extra-field 'groups'
         # dataset might come from a harvest process
-        if not data.get(('groups', 0, 'id'), False):
+        if not data.get(('groups', 0, 'id'), False) and not \
+            (data.get('groups', False) and len(data.get('groups'))>0):
             errors['groups']= 'at least one group needed'
 
 def validate_extras(key, data, errors, context):