diff --git a/KubeOS-Rust/kbimg/src/commands.rs b/KubeOS-Rust/kbimg/src/commands.rs
index 24fc10319a832008d3a071277731fa71ed27b60c..bcf9feb0dc4db5932866138b1cee8188c55b9a83 100644
--- a/KubeOS-Rust/kbimg/src/commands.rs
+++ b/KubeOS-Rust/kbimg/src/commands.rs
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ pub struct User {
     pub passwd: String,
     #[serde(default, deserialize_with = "reject_empty_option_string")]
     pub primary_group: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default, deserialize_with = "reject_empty_opt_vec_string")]
     pub groups: Option<Vec<String>>,
 }
 
@@ -138,6 +139,7 @@ pub struct Grub {
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct SystemdService {
+    #[serde(default, deserialize_with = "reject_empty_vec_string")]
     pub name: Vec<String>,
 }
 
@@ -155,6 +157,7 @@ pub struct DiskPartition {
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct PersistMkdir {
+    #[serde(default, deserialize_with = "reject_empty_vec_string")]
     pub name: Vec<String>,
 }
 
@@ -240,3 +243,37 @@ where
     }
     Ok(value)
 }
+
+fn reject_empty_opt_vec_string<'de, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Option<Vec<String>>, D::Error>
+where
+    D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+{
+    let value: Option<Vec<String>> = Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+    if let Some(ref value) = value {
+        if value.is_empty() {
+            return Err(serde::de::Error::custom("Vec<String> field should not be empty"));
+        }
+        for v in value {
+            if v.trim().is_empty() {
+                return Err(serde::de::Error::custom("String in Vec<String> should not be an empty string"));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(value)
+}
+
+fn reject_empty_vec_string<'de, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Vec<String>, D::Error>
+where
+    D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+{
+    let value: Vec<String> = Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+    if value.is_empty() {
+        return Err(serde::de::Error::custom("Vec<String> field should not be empty"));
+    }
+    for v in &value {
+        if v.trim().is_empty() {
+            return Err(serde::de::Error::custom("String in Vec<String> should not be an empty string"));
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(value)
+}
diff --git a/KubeOS-Rust/kbimg/src/scripts_gen.rs b/KubeOS-Rust/kbimg/src/scripts_gen.rs
index 4f9abd242fb5b03f925a33338afca7dd57c7c840..9993af1cb8e01fe901c18725611ed48f2d4330e9 100644
--- a/KubeOS-Rust/kbimg/src/scripts_gen.rs
+++ b/KubeOS-Rust/kbimg/src/scripts_gen.rs
@@ -261,6 +261,9 @@ pub(crate) fn gen_create_img(file: &mut dyn Write, legacy_bios: bool, config: &C
     let mut mkdir_persist: String = String::new();
     if let Some(persist_mkdir) = &config.persist_mkdir {
         for name in &persist_mkdir.name {
+            if name.is_empty() {
+                continue;
+            }
             mkdir_persist.push_str(&format!("    mkdir -p \"${{TMP_MOUNT_PATH}}\"/{}\n", name));
         }
     }