diff --git a/command.py b/command.py
index 936ab408..4dbe2e77 100644
--- a/command.py
+++ b/command.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class Command(object):
     mp = self.manifest.manifestProject
 
     groups = mp.config.GetString('manifest.groups')
-    if groups is None:
+    if not groups:
       groups = 'default,platform-' + platform.system().lower()
     groups = [x for x in re.split('[,\s]+', groups) if x]
 
diff --git a/manifest_xml.py b/manifest_xml.py
index 5ffc49e9..d20eac2a 100644
--- a/manifest_xml.py
+++ b/manifest_xml.py
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ class XmlManifest(object):
     mp = self.manifestProject
 
     groups = mp.config.GetString('manifest.groups')
-    if groups is None:
+    if not groups:
       groups = 'default'
     groups = [x for x in re.split(r'[,\s]+', groups) if x]