diff --git a/changes/8210.bugfix b/changes/8210.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6b8f19aaeb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/8210.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix exception in ``group_list`` / ``organization_list`` when passing the ``groups`` / ``organizations`` parameters
diff --git a/ckan/logic/action/get.py b/ckan/logic/action/get.py
index 73433d35761..80f2b1032e6 100644
--- a/ckan/logic/action/get.py
+++ b/ckan/logic/action/get.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from typing import (Container, Optional,
                     Union, Any, cast, Type)
 
-from ckan.common import config, asbool
+from ckan.common import config, asbool, aslist
 import sqlalchemy
 from sqlalchemy import text
 
@@ -387,6 +387,7 @@ def _group_or_org_list(
     query = query.filter(model.Group.state == 'active')
 
     if groups:
+        groups = aslist(groups, sep=",")
         query = query.filter(model.Group.name.in_(groups))
     if q:
         q = u'%{0}%'.format(q)
diff --git a/ckan/tests/logic/action/test_get.py b/ckan/tests/logic/action/test_get.py
index c6072378dd4..d384a5b0d3c 100644
--- a/ckan/tests/logic/action/test_get.py
+++ b/ckan/tests/logic/action/test_get.py
@@ -473,6 +473,19 @@ def test_group_list_wrong_offset(self):
         with pytest.raises(logic.ValidationError):
             helpers.call_action("group_list", offset="-2")
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("value", ["bb,cc", ["bb", "cc"]])
+    def test_group_list_filter_by_name(self, value):
+
+        factories.Group(name="aa")
+        factories.Group(name="bb")
+        factories.Group(name="cc")
+
+        group_list = helpers.call_action("group_list", groups=value, sort="name asc")
+
+        assert len(group_list) == 2
+        assert group_list[0] == "bb"
+        assert group_list[1] == "cc"
+
 
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("clean_db", "clean_index")
 class TestGroupShow(object):