diff --git a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/Roster.java b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/Roster.java
index 1ba793aef..71372d244 100644
--- a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/Roster.java
+++ b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/Roster.java
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ public class Roster {
         RosterPacket.Item item = new RosterPacket.Item(user, name);
         if (groups != null) {
             for (String group : groups) {
-                if (group != null) {
+                if (group != null && group.trim().length() > 0) {
                     item.addGroupName(group);
                 }
             }
diff --git a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/PacketParserUtils.java b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/PacketParserUtils.java
index 7957bf257..ed4fa442f 100644
--- a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/PacketParserUtils.java
+++ b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/PacketParserUtils.java
@@ -369,7 +369,10 @@ public class PacketParserUtils {
                     item.setItemType(type);
                 }
                 if (parser.getName().equals("group") && item!= null) {
-                    item.addGroupName(parser.nextText());
+                    final String groupName = parser.nextText();
+                    if (groupName != null && groupName.trim().length() > 0) {
+                        item.addGroupName(parser.nextText());
+                    }
                 }
             }
             else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {