diff --git a/osc/commandline.py b/osc/commandline.py
index 228bdd08..9dbccb17 100644
--- a/osc/commandline.py
+++ b/osc/commandline.py
@@ -909,7 +909,7 @@ class Osc(cmdln.Cmdln):
                 if r:
                     sys.stdout.write(''.join(r))
             elif cmd == 'group':
-                r = get_group(apiurl, group)
+                r = get_group_meta(apiurl, group)
                 if r:
                     sys.stdout.write(''.join(r))
             elif cmd == 'pattern':
@@ -1659,7 +1659,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             actionxml = """ <action type="add_role"> <target project="%s" package="%s" /> <group name="%s" role="%s" /> </action> """ % \
                 (project, package, group, role)
 
-        if get_group(apiurl, group) == None:
+        if get_group_meta(apiurl, group) == None:
             raise oscerr.WrongArgs('osc: an error occured.')
 
         return actionxml
@@ -1682,7 +1682,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             group = user.replace('group:', '')
             actionxml = """ <action type="set_bugowner"> <target project="%s" %s /> <group name="%s" /> </action> """ % \
                     (project, package, group)
-            if get_group(apiurl, group) == None:
+            if get_group_meta(apiurl, group) == None:
                 raise oscerr.WrongArgs('osc: an error occured.')
         else:
             actionxml = """ <action type="set_bugowner"> <target project="%s" %s /> <person name="%s" /> </action> """ % \
diff --git a/osc/core.py b/osc/core.py
index d730a469..65f0a44a 100644
--- a/osc/core.py
+++ b/osc/core.py
@@ -4478,7 +4478,12 @@ def check_existing_maintenance_requests(apiurl, src_project, src_packages, dst_p
             raise oscerr.UserAbort()
     return repl == 'y', reqs
 
+# old function for compat reasons. Some plugins may call this function.
+# and we do not want to break the plugins.
 def get_group(apiurl, group):
+    return get_group_meta(apiurl, group)
+
+def get_group_meta(apiurl, group):
     u = makeurl(apiurl, ['group', quote_plus(group)])
     try:
         f = http_GET(u)
@@ -4516,7 +4521,7 @@ def get_user_data(apiurl, user, *tags):
     
 
 def get_group_data(apiurl, group, *tags):
-    meta = get_group(apiurl, group)
+    meta = get_group_meta(apiurl, group)
     return _get_xml_data(meta, *tags)