diff --git a/gitlab/resource_gitlab_project.go b/gitlab/resource_gitlab_project.go
index 001c2966e..d75c54754 100644
--- a/gitlab/resource_gitlab_project.go
+++ b/gitlab/resource_gitlab_project.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func resourceGitlabProject() *schema.Resource {
 				Computed: true,
 			},
 			"shared_with_groups": {
-				Type:     schema.TypeList,
+				Type:     schema.TypeSet,
 				Optional: true,
 				Elem: &schema.Resource{
 					Schema: map[string]*schema.Schema{
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ func resourceGitlabProjectCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error
 	}
 
 	if v, ok := d.GetOk("shared_with_groups"); ok {
-		options := expandSharedWithGroupsOptions(v.([]interface{}))
+		options := expandSharedWithGroupsOptions(v)
 
 		for _, option := range options {
 			_, err := client.Projects.ShareProjectWithGroup(project.ID, option)
@@ -298,10 +298,10 @@ func resourceGitlabProjectDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error
 	return nil
 }
 
-func expandSharedWithGroupsOptions(d []interface{}) []*gitlab.ShareWithGroupOptions {
+func expandSharedWithGroupsOptions(v interface{}) []*gitlab.ShareWithGroupOptions {
 	shareWithGroupOptionsList := []*gitlab.ShareWithGroupOptions{}
 
-	for _, config := range d {
+	for _, config := range v.(*schema.Set).List() {
 		data := config.(map[string]interface{})
 
 		groupAccess := accessLevelNameToValue[data["group_access_level"].(string)]
@@ -368,8 +368,7 @@ func updateSharedWithGroups(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 	var groupsToShare []*gitlab.ShareWithGroupOptions
 
 	// Get target groups from the TF config and current groups from Gitlab server
-	targetGroups := expandSharedWithGroupsOptions(
-		d.Get("shared_with_groups").([]interface{}))
+	targetGroups := expandSharedWithGroupsOptions(d.Get("shared_with_groups"))
 	project, _, err := client.Projects.GetProject(d.Id())
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/gitlab/resource_gitlab_project_test.go b/gitlab/resource_gitlab_project_test.go
index fc476d340..b37f2116c 100644
--- a/gitlab/resource_gitlab_project_test.go
+++ b/gitlab/resource_gitlab_project_test.go
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func TestAccGitlabProject_basic(t *testing.T) {
 							GroupID          int
 							GroupName        string
 							GroupAccessLevel int
-						}{{0, "", 30}},
+						}{{0, fmt.Sprintf("foo-name-%d", rInt), 30}},
 					}),
 				),
 			},
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func TestAccGitlabProject_basic(t *testing.T) {
 							GroupID          int
 							GroupName        string
 							GroupAccessLevel int
-						}{{0, "", 10}, {0, "", 30}},
+						}{{0, fmt.Sprintf("foo-name-%d", rInt), 10}, {0, fmt.Sprintf("foo2-name-%d", rInt), 30}},
 					}),
 				),
 			},
@@ -251,11 +251,18 @@ func testAccCheckGitlabProjectAttributes(project *gitlab.Project, want *testAccG
 			return fmt.Errorf("got visibility %q; want %q", project.Visibility, want.Visibility)
 		}
 
-		for i, group := range project.SharedWithGroups {
-			if group.GroupAccessLevel != want.SharedWithGroups[i].GroupAccessLevel {
-				return fmt.Errorf("got shared with groups access: %d; want %d", group.GroupAccessLevel, want.SharedWithGroups[i].GroupAccessLevel)
+		groupsToCheck := want.SharedWithGroups
+		for _, group := range project.SharedWithGroups {
+			for i, groupToCheck := range groupsToCheck {
+				if group.GroupName == groupToCheck.GroupName && group.GroupAccessLevel == groupToCheck.GroupAccessLevel {
+					groupsToCheck = append(groupsToCheck[:i], groupsToCheck[i+1:]...)
+					break
+				}
 			}
 		}
+		if len(groupsToCheck) != 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("got shared with groups: %v; want %v", project.SharedWithGroups, want.SharedWithGroups)
+		}
 
 		return nil
 	}