diff --git a/ckanext/odsh/validation.py b/ckanext/odsh/validation.py
index 1233070ad1bc1c007952b02d4113f2b6427ef991..90efa8f2e412a31e617345280c9ce7001584417a 100644
--- a/ckanext/odsh/validation.py
+++ b/ckanext/odsh/validation.py
@@ -52,8 +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) and not \
-            (data.get('groups', False) and len(data.get('groups'))>0):
+        if not data.get(('groups', 0, 'id'), False) and \
+           not data.get(('groups', 0, 'name'), False):
             errors['groups']= 'at least one group needed'
 
 def validate_extras(key, data, errors, context):