diff --git a/tests/end_to_end/models/model_owner.py b/tests/end_to_end/models/model_owner.py
index e50b401f3d..19bb133d15 100644
--- a/tests/end_to_end/models/model_owner.py
+++ b/tests/end_to_end/models/model_owner.py
@@ -233,8 +233,7 @@ def register_collaborators(self, plan_path, num_collaborators=None):
             with open(cols_file, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
                 doc = yaml.load(f, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
 
-            if "collaborators" not in doc.keys() or not doc["collaborators"]:
-                doc["collaborators"] = []  # Create empty list
+            doc["collaborators"] = []  # Create empty list
 
             for i in range(num_collaborators):
                 col_name = "collaborator" + str(i+1)