diff --git a/CodeGenerator/templates/GithubObject.py b/CodeGenerator/templates/GithubObject.py
index e0ac5bf3..2b10f68e 100644
--- a/CodeGenerator/templates/GithubObject.py
+++ b/CodeGenerator/templates/GithubObject.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class {{ class.name }}( object ):
 {% endif %}
 
 {% if attribute.type.cardinality == "list" %}
-            assert isinstance( attributes[ "{{ attribute.name }}" ], list )
+            assert isinstance( attributes[ "{{ attribute.name }}" ], list ) and ( len( attributes[ "{{ attribute.name }}" ] ) == 0 or isinstance( attributes[ "{{ attribute.name }}" ][ 0 ], dict ) )
             self.__{{ attribute.name }} = [
                 {% if attribute.type.name != class.name %}{{ attribute.type.name }}.{% endif %}{{ attribute.type.name }}( self.__requester, element, lazy = True )
                 for element in attributes[ "{{ attribute.name }}" ]
diff --git a/github/GithubObjects/GitCommit.py b/github/GithubObjects/GitCommit.py
index a781d0a8..260ef2d7 100644
--- a/github/GithubObjects/GitCommit.py
+++ b/github/GithubObjects/GitCommit.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class GitCommit( object ):
             assert isinstance( attributes[ "message" ], ( str, unicode ) )
             self.__message = attributes[ "message" ]
         if "parents" in attributes and attributes[ "parents" ] is not None:
-            assert isinstance( attributes[ "parents" ], list )
+            assert isinstance( attributes[ "parents" ], list ) and ( len( attributes[ "parents" ] ) == 0 or isinstance( attributes[ "parents" ][ 0 ], dict ) )
             self.__parents = [
                 GitCommit( self.__requester, element, lazy = True )
                 for element in attributes[ "parents" ]