diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/data/sft.py b/src/axolotl/utils/data/sft.py
index 9423b9a6f3..39c50b1a07 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/data/sft.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/data/sft.py
@@ -379,14 +379,15 @@ def for_d_in_datasets(dataset_configs):
                 d_base_type = d_type_split[0]
                 d_prompt_style = d_type_split[1] if len(d_type_split) > 1 else None
 
-            if config_dataset.split and config_dataset.split in ds:
-                ds = ds[config_dataset.split]
-            elif split in ds:
-                ds = ds[split]
-            elif isinstance(ds, DatasetDict):
-                raise ValueError(
-                    f"no {split} split found for dataset {config_dataset.path}, you may specify a split with 'split: `"
-                )
+            if isinstance(ds, DatasetDict):
+                if config_dataset.split and config_dataset.split in ds:
+                    ds = ds[config_dataset.split]
+                elif split in ds:
+                    ds = ds[split]
+                else:
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        f"no {split} split found for dataset {config_dataset.path}, you may specify a split with 'split: `"
+                    )
 
             # support for using a subset of the data
             if config_dataset.shards: