diff --git a/seahub/adfs_auth/backends.py b/seahub/adfs_auth/backends.py
index dcab39eede7..b5f3c445aaf 100644
--- a/seahub/adfs_auth/backends.py
+++ b/seahub/adfs_auth/backends.py
@@ -194,6 +194,10 @@ def sync_saml_groups(self, user, attributes):
         if not seafile_groups:
             return
 
+        # support a list of comma-separated IDs as seafile_groups claim
+        if len(seafile_groups) == 1 and ',' in seafile_groups[0]:
+            seafile_groups = seafile_groups[0].split(',')
+
         saml_group_ids = [int(group_id) for group_id in seafile_groups]
 
         joined_groups = ccnet_api.get_groups(user.username)