diff --git a/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngressCmd.java b/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngressCmd.java
index a9d0bb8238d..8e19f21d864 100644
--- a/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngressCmd.java
+++ b/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngressCmd.java
@@ -120,10 +120,11 @@ public class AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngressCmd extends BaseAsyncCmd {
         }
         
         if (securityGroupName != null) {
-            securityGroupId = _responseGenerator.getSecurityGroupId(securityGroupName, getEntityOwnerId());
-            if (securityGroupId == null) {
+            Long groupId = _responseGenerator.getSecurityGroupId(securityGroupName, getEntityOwnerId());
+            if (groupId == null) {
                 throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Unable to find security group " + securityGroupName + " for account id=" + getEntityOwnerId());
             }
+            return groupId;
         }
         
         return securityGroupId;
diff --git a/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/DeleteSecurityGroupCmd.java b/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/DeleteSecurityGroupCmd.java
index 024d9dc206d..3b943b76cc0 100644
--- a/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/DeleteSecurityGroupCmd.java
+++ b/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/DeleteSecurityGroupCmd.java
@@ -53,10 +53,12 @@ public class DeleteSecurityGroupCmd extends BaseCmd {
         }
         
         if (name != null) {
-            id = _responseGenerator.getSecurityGroupId(name, getEntityOwnerId());
-            if (id == null) {
+            Long groupId = _responseGenerator.getSecurityGroupId(name, getEntityOwnerId());
+            if (groupId == null) {
                 throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Unable to find security group by name " + name + " for the account id=" + getEntityOwnerId());
             }
+            
+            return groupId;
         }
         
         return id;
diff --git a/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/DeployVMCmd.java b/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/DeployVMCmd.java
index 254aa09529e..08fbc41c4d6 100644
--- a/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/DeployVMCmd.java
+++ b/api/src/com/cloud/api/commands/DeployVMCmd.java
@@ -147,21 +147,22 @@ public class DeployVMCmd extends BaseAsyncCreateCmd {
     }
 
     public List<Long> getSecurityGroupIdList() {
-        if (securityGroupIdList != null && securityGroupIdList != null) {
+        if (securityGroupIdList != null && securityGroupNameList != null) {
             throw new InvalidParameterValueException("securitygroupids parameter is mutually exclusive with securitygroupnames parameter");
         }
         
        //transform group names to ids here
        if (securityGroupNameList != null) {
-            securityGroupIdList = new ArrayList<Long>();
+            List<Long> securityGroupIdListToReturn = new ArrayList<Long>();
             for (String groupName : securityGroupNameList) {
                 Long groupId = _responseGenerator.getSecurityGroupId(groupName, getEntityOwnerId());
                 if (groupId == null) {
                     throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Unable to find group by name " + groupName + " for account " + getEntityOwnerId());
                 } else {
-                    securityGroupIdList.add(groupId);
+                    securityGroupIdListToReturn.add(groupId);
                 }
-            }    
+            }
+            return securityGroupIdListToReturn;
         }
        
        return securityGroupIdList;
diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java b/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
index f05162b3820..b249a994220 100755
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
@@ -1953,8 +1953,11 @@ public class UserVmManagerImpl implements UserVmManager, UserVmService, Manager
         
         if (securityGroupIdList != null && isVmWare) {
             throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Security group feature is not supported for vmWare hypervisor");
-        } else if (securityGroupIdList == null && !isVmWare) {
-            securityGroupIdList = new ArrayList<Long>();
+        } else if (!isVmWare) {
+            if (securityGroupIdList == null) {
+                securityGroupIdList = new ArrayList<Long>();
+            }
+            
             SecurityGroup defaultGroup = _securityGroupMgr.getDefaultSecurityGroup(owner.getId());
             if (defaultGroup != null) {
               //check if security group id list already contains Default security group, and if not - add it