diff --git a/updater/lib/dependabot/job.rb b/updater/lib/dependabot/job.rb
index d2a375974c3..4e8e0df899f 100644
--- a/updater/lib/dependabot/job.rb
+++ b/updater/lib/dependabot/job.rb
@@ -111,7 +111,12 @@ def initialize(attributes)
       @update_subdependencies         = attributes.fetch(:update_subdependencies)
       @updating_a_pull_request        = attributes.fetch(:updating_a_pull_request)
       @vendor_dependencies            = attributes.fetch(:vendor_dependencies, false)
-      @dependency_groups              = attributes.fetch(:dependency_groups, [])
+      # TODO: Make this hash required
+      #
+      # We will need to do a pass updating the CLI and smoke tests before this is possible,
+      # so let's consider it optional for now. If we get a nil value, let's force it to be
+      # an array.
+      @dependency_groups              = attributes.fetch(:dependency_groups, []) || []
       @dependency_group_to_refresh    = attributes.fetch(:dependency_group_to_refresh, nil)
       @repo_private                   = attributes.fetch(:repo_private, nil)