diff --git a/authorize/evaluator/headers_evaluator_evaluation.go b/authorize/evaluator/headers_evaluator_evaluation.go
index 1b22f6f89..82f39151c 100644
--- a/authorize/evaluator/headers_evaluator_evaluation.go
+++ b/authorize/evaluator/headers_evaluator_evaluation.go
@@ -312,6 +312,17 @@ func (e *headersEvaluatorEvaluation) getJWTPayloadEmail(ctx context.Context) str
 }
 
 func (e *headersEvaluatorEvaluation) getJWTPayloadGroups(ctx context.Context) []string {
+	groups := e.getGroups(ctx)
+	if groups == nil {
+		// If there are no groups, marshal this claim as an empty list rather than a JSON null,
+		// for better compatibility with third-party libraries.
+		// See https://github.com/pomerium/pomerium/issues/5393 for one example.
+		groups = []string{}
+	}
+	return groups
+}
+
+func (e *headersEvaluatorEvaluation) getGroups(ctx context.Context) []string {
 	groupIDs := e.getGroupIDs(ctx)
 	if len(groupIDs) > 0 {
 		groupIDs = e.filterGroups(groupIDs)
@@ -323,12 +334,6 @@ func (e *headersEvaluatorEvaluation) getJWTPayloadGroups(ctx context.Context) []
 
 	s, _ := e.getSessionOrServiceAccount(ctx)
 	groups, _ := getClaimStringSlice(s, "groups")
-	if groups == nil {
-		// If there are no groups, marshal this claim as an empty list rather than a JSON null,
-		// for better compatibility with third-party libraries.
-		// See https://github.com/pomerium/pomerium/issues/5393 for one example.
-		groups = []string{}
-	}
 	return groups
 }
 
diff --git a/authorize/evaluator/headers_evaluator_test.go b/authorize/evaluator/headers_evaluator_test.go
index 89344bf67..ee9f20fad 100644
--- a/authorize/evaluator/headers_evaluator_test.go
+++ b/authorize/evaluator/headers_evaluator_test.go
@@ -498,14 +498,15 @@ func TestHeadersEvaluator_JWTGroupsFilter(t *testing.T) {
 		sessionID    string
 		expected     []any
 	}{
-		{"global filter 1", []string{"42", "1", "GROUP-12"}, nil, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "42", "GROUP-12"}},
-		{"global filter 2", []string{"42", "1", "GROUP-12"}, nil, "SESSION-2", []any{"42", "GROUP-12"}},
-		{"route filter 1", nil, []string{"42", "1", "GROUP-12"}, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "42", "GROUP-12"}},
-		{"route filter 2", nil, []string{"42", "1", "GROUP-12"}, "SESSION-2", []any{"42", "GROUP-12"}},
-		{"both filters 1", []string{"1"}, []string{"42", "GROUP-12"}, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "42", "GROUP-12"}},
-		{"both filters 2", []string{"1"}, []string{"42", "GROUP-12"}, "SESSION-2", []any{"42", "GROUP-12"}},
-		{"overlapping", []string{"1"}, []string{"1"}, "SESSION-1", []any{"1"}},
-		{"empty route filter", []string{"1", "2", "3"}, []string{}, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "2", "3"}},
+		{"global filter 1", []string{"42", "1"}, nil, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "42", "GROUP-1", "GROUP-42"}},
+		{"global filter 2", []string{"42", "1"}, nil, "SESSION-2", []any{"42", "GROUP-42"}},
+		{"route filter 1", nil, []string{"42", "1"}, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "42", "GROUP-1", "GROUP-42"}},
+		{"route filter 2", nil, []string{"42", "1"}, "SESSION-2", []any{"42", "GROUP-42"}},
+		{"both filters 1", []string{"1"}, []string{"42"}, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "42", "GROUP-1", "GROUP-42"}},
+		{"both filters 2", []string{"1"}, []string{"42"}, "SESSION-2", []any{"42", "GROUP-42"}},
+		{"cannot filter by name", []string{"GROUP-1"}, nil, "SESSION-1", []any{}},
+		{"overlapping", []string{"1"}, []string{"1"}, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "GROUP-1"}},
+		{"empty route filter", []string{"1", "2", "3"}, []string{}, "SESSION-1", []any{"1", "2", "3", "GROUP-1", "GROUP-2", "GROUP-3"}},
 		{
 			"no filtering", nil, nil, "SESSION-10",
 			[]any{"10", "20", "30", "40", "50", "GROUP-10", "GROUP-20", "GROUP-30", "GROUP-40", "GROUP-50"},