diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/discovery/discovery_client.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/discovery/discovery_client.go
index 25fa2cfa030..ff4c57a4f0c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/discovery/discovery_client.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/discovery/discovery_client.go
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ func (d *DiscoveryClient) ServerGroups() (apiGroupList *metav1.APIGroupList, err
 	v := &metav1.APIVersions{}
 	err = d.restClient.Get().AbsPath(d.LegacyPrefix).Do().Into(v)
 	apiGroup := metav1.APIGroup{}
-	if err == nil {
+	if err == nil && len(v.Versions) != 0 {
 		apiGroup = apiVersionsToAPIGroup(v)
 	}
 	if err != nil && !errors.IsNotFound(err) && !errors.IsForbidden(err) {
@@ -141,8 +141,10 @@ func (d *DiscoveryClient) ServerGroups() (apiGroupList *metav1.APIGroupList, err
 		apiGroupList = &metav1.APIGroupList{}
 	}
 
-	// append the group retrieved from /api to the list
-	apiGroupList.Groups = append(apiGroupList.Groups, apiGroup)
+	// append the group retrieved from /api to the list if not empty
+	if len(v.Versions) != 0 {
+		apiGroupList.Groups = append(apiGroupList.Groups, apiGroup)
+	}
 	return apiGroupList, nil
 }