diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8a86f5a16..a343903b1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@
 
 ### Minor changes
 
+* `api_path2xml_vec` strict mode check added if list key length mismatch 
 * `startup_extraxml` triggers unnecessary validation
   * Renamed startup_db_reset -> xmldb_db_reset (its a general function)
   * In startup_extraxml(), check if reset callbacks or extraxml file actually makes and changes to the tmp db.
diff --git a/lib/src/clixon_xml_map.c b/lib/src/clixon_xml_map.c
index 973c8698e..a536e679f 100644
--- a/lib/src/clixon_xml_map.c
+++ b/lib/src/clixon_xml_map.c
@@ -2494,7 +2494,7 @@ api_path2xml_vec(char             **vec,
 	else{
 	    if ((valvec = clicon_strsep(restval, ",", &nvalvec)) == NULL)
 		goto done;
-	    if (nvalvec != cvec_len(cvk)){ 	    
+	    if ((nvalvec != cvec_len(cvk)) && strict){ 	    
 		clicon_err(OE_XML, EINVAL, "List key %s length mismatch", name);
 		goto fail;
 	    }