diff --git a/internal/fields/model.go b/internal/fields/model.go
index adf7b9d2f9..4613bff892 100644
--- a/internal/fields/model.go
+++ b/internal/fields/model.go
@@ -128,17 +128,22 @@ func (fds *FieldDefinitions) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
 				return err
 			}
 
-			// Some groups are used by convention in ECS to include
-			// fields that can appear in the root level of the document.
-			// Append their child fields directly instead.
-			// TODO: Make this generic looking for groups whose children don't match.
-			if name == "base" || name == "tracing" {
-				fields = append(fields, field.Fields...)
-			} else {
-				field.Name = name
-				cleanNestedNames(field.Name, field.Fields)
-				fields = append(fields, field)
+			field.Name = name
+			baseFields := cleanNested(&field)
+			if len(baseFields) > 0 {
+				// Some groups are used by convention in ECS to include
+				// fields that can appear in the root level of the document.
+				// Append their child fields directly instead.
+				// Examples of such groups are `base` or `tracing`.
+				fields = append(fields, baseFields...)
+				if len(field.Fields) == 0 {
+					// If it had base fields, and doesn't have any other
+					// field, don't add it.
+					continue
+				}
 			}
+
+			fields = append(fields, field)
 		}
 		*fds = fields
 		return nil
@@ -150,10 +155,30 @@ func (fds *FieldDefinitions) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
 	}
 }
 
-func cleanNestedNames(parent string, fields []FieldDefinition) {
-	for i := range fields {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(fields[i].Name, parent+".") {
-			fields[i].Name = fields[i].Name[len(parent)+1:]
+// cleanNested processes fields nested inside another field, and returns
+// defined base fields.
+// If a field name is prefixed by the parent field, this part is removed,
+// so the full path, taking into account the parent name, matches.
+// If a field name is not prefixed by the parent field, this is considered
+// a base field, that should appear at the top-level. It is removed from
+// the list of nested fields and returned as base field.
+func cleanNested(parent *FieldDefinition) (base []FieldDefinition) {
+	var nested []FieldDefinition
+	for _, field := range parent.Fields {
+		// If the field name is prefixed by the name of its parent,
+		// this is a normal nested field. If not, it is a base field.
+		if strings.HasPrefix(field.Name, parent.Name+".") {
+			field.Name = field.Name[len(parent.Name)+1:]
+			nested = append(nested, field)
+		} else {
+			base = append(base, field)
 		}
 	}
+
+	// At the moment of writing this code, a group field has base fields
+	// (`base` and `tracing` groups), or nested fields, but not both.
+	// This code handles the case of having groups with both kinds of fields,
+	// just in case this happens.
+	parent.Fields = nested
+	return base
 }