diff --git a/airo-dataset-tools/airo_dataset_tools/coco_tools/transform_dataset.py b/airo-dataset-tools/airo_dataset_tools/coco_tools/transform_dataset.py
index 1a193f2..623f7e1 100644
--- a/airo-dataset-tools/airo_dataset_tools/coco_tools/transform_dataset.py
+++ b/airo-dataset-tools/airo_dataset_tools/coco_tools/transform_dataset.py
@@ -41,11 +41,23 @@ def apply_transform_to_coco_dataset(  # type: ignore # noqa: C901
         coco_dataset = CocoKeypointsDataset(**coco_dataset.model_dump(exclude_none=False))
         transform_keypoints = all(annotation.keypoints is not None for annotation in coco_dataset.annotations)
 
-    except PydanticValidationError:
+    except PydanticValidationError as e:
+        print("not transforming keypoints due to pydantic validation error")
+        print(e)
         transform_keypoints = False
+    
     # check if bboxes and masks are present
     transform_bbox = all(annotation.bbox is not None for annotation in coco_dataset.annotations)
     transform_segmentation = all(annotation.segmentation is not None for annotation in coco_dataset.annotations)
+
+    # check if seg masks are not empty arrays
+    for annotation in coco_dataset.annotations:
+        print(annotation.segmentation)
+        if isinstance(annotation.segmentation, list) and len(annotation.segmentation) == 0:
+            print("Empty segmentation mask found. Skipping segmentation transformation.")
+            transform_segmentation = False
+            break
+    
     print(f"Transforming keypoints = {transform_keypoints}")
     print(f"Transforming bbox = {transform_bbox}")
     print(f"Transforming segmentation = {transform_segmentation}")