diff --git a/container-search/src/main/java/com/yahoo/search/grouping/GroupingValidator.java b/container-search/src/main/java/com/yahoo/search/grouping/GroupingValidator.java
index 165469d59eef..d2ba4092b1c6 100644
--- a/container-search/src/main/java/com/yahoo/search/grouping/GroupingValidator.java
+++ b/container-search/src/main/java/com/yahoo/search/grouping/GroupingValidator.java
@@ -65,10 +65,34 @@ public Result search(Query query, Execution execution) {
         return execution.search(query);
     }
 
-    private void verifyHasAttribute(String attributeName) {
-        if (!attributes.containsKey(attributeName)) {
+    static private boolean isPrimitiveAttribute(AttributesConfig.Attribute attribute) {
+        var datatype = attribute.datatype();
+        return  datatype == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.INT8 ||
+                datatype == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.INT16 ||
+                datatype == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.INT32 ||
+                datatype == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.INT64 ||
+                datatype == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.STRING ||
+                datatype == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.FLOAT ||
+                datatype == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.DOUBLE;
+    }
+
+    static private boolean isSingleRawAttribute(AttributesConfig.Attribute attribute) {
+        return  attribute.datatype() == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.RAW &&
+                attribute.collectiontype() == AttributesConfig.Attribute.Collectiontype.SINGLE;
+    }
+
+    private void verifyHasAttribute(String attributeName, boolean allowSingleRawAttribute) {
+        var attribute = attributes.get(attributeName);
+        if (attribute == null) {
             throw new UnavailableAttributeException(clusterName, attributeName);
         }
+        if (isPrimitiveAttribute(attribute) || (isSingleRawAttribute(attribute) && allowSingleRawAttribute)) {
+            return;
+        }
+        throw new IllegalInputException("Grouping request references attribute '" +
+                attributeName + "' with unsupported data type '" + attribute.datatype() +
+                "' collection type '" + attribute.collectiontype() + "'" +
+                (allowSingleRawAttribute ? "" : " for map lookup"));
     }
 
     private void verifyCompatibleAttributeTypes(String keyAttributeName,
@@ -92,14 +116,14 @@ private class MyVisitor implements ExpressionVisitor {
         @Override
         public void visitExpression(GroupingExpression exp) {
             if (exp instanceof AttributeMapLookupValue mapLookup) {
-                verifyHasAttribute(mapLookup.getKeyAttribute());
-                verifyHasAttribute(mapLookup.getValueAttribute());
+                verifyHasAttribute(mapLookup.getKeyAttribute(), false);
+                verifyHasAttribute(mapLookup.getValueAttribute(), false);
                 if (mapLookup.hasKeySourceAttribute()) {
-                    verifyHasAttribute(mapLookup.getKeySourceAttribute());
+                    verifyHasAttribute(mapLookup.getKeySourceAttribute(), false);
                     verifyCompatibleAttributeTypes(mapLookup.getKeyAttribute(), mapLookup.getKeySourceAttribute());
                 }
             } else if (exp instanceof AttributeValue) {
-                verifyHasAttribute(((AttributeValue) exp).getAttributeName());
+                verifyHasAttribute(((AttributeValue) exp).getAttributeName(), true);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/container-search/src/test/java/com/yahoo/search/grouping/GroupingValidatorTestCase.java b/container-search/src/test/java/com/yahoo/search/grouping/GroupingValidatorTestCase.java
index edce8112f21a..98a147a0fd4c 100644
--- a/container-search/src/test/java/com/yahoo/search/grouping/GroupingValidatorTestCase.java
+++ b/container-search/src/test/java/com/yahoo/search/grouping/GroupingValidatorTestCase.java
@@ -145,11 +145,70 @@ void key_source_attribute_with_multi_value_collection_type_throws() {
         }
     }
 
+    private static void unsupported_attribute_type_throws(String name, AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.Enum datatype) {
+        try {
+            var builder = new AttributesConfig.Builder();
+            builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name(name).datatype(datatype));
+            validateGrouping(new AttributesConfig(builder),
+                    "all(group(" + name + ") each(output(count())))");
+            fail("Expected exception");
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            assertEquals("Grouping request references attribute '" + name + "' " +
+                            "with unsupported data type '" + datatype.toString() + "' collection type 'SINGLE'",
+                    e.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void tensor_attribute_throws() {
+        unsupported_attribute_type_throws("tensor", AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.TENSOR);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void predicate_attribute_throws() {
+        unsupported_attribute_type_throws("predicate", AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.PREDICATE);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void reference_attribute_throws() {
+        unsupported_attribute_type_throws("reference", AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.REFERENCE);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void raw_attribute_is_ok() {
+        var builder = new AttributesConfig.Builder();
+        builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name("raw")
+                .datatype(AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.RAW));
+        validateGrouping(new AttributesConfig(builder),
+                "all(group(raw) each(output(count())))");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void raw_attribute_cannot_be_used_for_lookup() {
+        try {
+            var builder = new AttributesConfig.Builder();
+            builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name("map.key")
+                    .datatype(AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.RAW));
+            builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name("map.value")
+                            .datatype(AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.STRING));
+            builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name("key_source")
+                            .datatype(AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.RAW));
+            validateGrouping(new AttributesConfig(builder),
+                    "all(group(map{attribute(key_source)}) each(output(count())))");
+            fail("Expected exception");
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            assertEquals("Grouping request references attribute 'map.key' " +
+                            "with unsupported data type 'RAW' collection type 'SINGLE' for map lookup",
+                    e.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+
     private static AttributesConfig setupMismatchingKeySourceAttribute(boolean matchingDataType) {
         AttributesConfig.Builder builder = new AttributesConfig.Builder();
         builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name("map.key")
                 .datatype(AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.Enum.STRING));
-        builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name("map.value"));
+        builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name("map.value")
+                .datatype(AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.STRING));
         builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder().name("key_source")
                 .datatype(matchingDataType ? AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.Enum.STRING :
                         AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.Enum.INT32)
@@ -172,7 +231,7 @@ private static AttributesConfig createAttributesConfig(Collection<String> attrib
         AttributesConfig.Builder builder = new AttributesConfig.Builder();
         for (String attributeName : attributeNames) {
             builder.attribute(new AttributesConfig.Attribute.Builder()
-                    .name(attributeName));
+                    .name(attributeName).datatype(AttributesConfig.Attribute.Datatype.INT32));
         }
         return new AttributesConfig(builder);
     }