diff --git a/app/security/admin_guard.py b/app/security/admin_guard.py
index 22e2bea..eef569d 100644
--- a/app/security/admin_guard.py
+++ b/app/security/admin_guard.py
@@ -5,16 +5,31 @@ from app.schemas.auth import KeycloakPrincipal
 from app.security.idp_jwt import require_authenticated_principal
 
 
+def _expand_group_aliases(groups: set[str]) -> set[str]:
+    expanded: set[str] = set()
+    for group in groups:
+        value = group.strip().lower()
+        if not value:
+            continue
+        expanded.add(value)
+        stripped = value.lstrip("/")
+        if stripped:
+            expanded.add(stripped)
+            if "/" in stripped:
+                expanded.add(stripped.rsplit("/", 1)[-1])
+    return expanded
+
+
 def require_admin_principal(
     principal: KeycloakPrincipal = Depends(require_authenticated_principal),
 ) -> KeycloakPrincipal:
     settings = get_settings()
-    required_groups = {group.lower() for group in settings.admin_required_groups}
+    required_groups = _expand_group_aliases(set(settings.admin_required_groups))
 
     if not required_groups:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_503_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, detail="admin_policy_not_configured")
 
-    principal_groups = {group.lower() for group in principal.groups}
+    principal_groups = _expand_group_aliases(set(principal.groups))
     group_ok = bool(required_groups.intersection(principal_groups))
 
     if not group_ok: