diff --git a/test/normalizers_test.py b/test/normalizers_test.py
index 8faed76..73a99a6 100644
--- a/test/normalizers_test.py
+++ b/test/normalizers_test.py
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ def test_normalize_tweets_payload_v2(self):
             get_json_resource("payload-v2-geo.json"),
             get_json_resource("payload-v2-tweet-retweet.json"),
             get_json_resource("payload-v2-video.json"),
+            get_json_resource("payload-v2-singletweet.json"),
         ]
 
         ntweets = []
diff --git a/test/resources/normalized-tweets-v2-all.json b/test/resources/normalized-tweets-v2-all.json
index c9b391d..2c9c446 100644
--- a/test/resources/normalized-tweets-v2-all.json
+++ b/test/resources/normalized-tweets-v2-all.json
@@ -1109,7 +1109,55 @@
     "collected_via": [
       "test"
     ],
-    "collection_time": "2023-05-12T14:42:08.206096",
+    "collection_time": "2026-02-23T14:17:43.608759",
+    "hashtags": [],
+    "id": "1618628579440619521",
+    "impression_count": 0,
+    "lang": "ja",
+    "like_count": 0,
+    "links": [],
+    "local_time": "2023-01-26T15:15:00",
+    "match_query": true,
+    "media_files": [],
+    "media_types": [],
+    "media_urls": [],
+    "mentioned_ids": [
+      "135064055"
+    ],
+    "mentioned_names": [
+      "kojiharunyan"
+    ],
+    "possibly_sensitive": false,
+    "quote_count": 0,
+    "reply_count": 0,
+    "retweet_count": 0,
+    "source_name": null,
+    "text": "@kojiharunyan わーん神3🐰🐰🐰💞",
+    "timestamp_utc": 1674746100,
+    "to_tweetid": "1618619004586950657",
+    "to_userid": "135064055",
+    "to_username": "kojiharunyan",
+    "url": "https://twitter.com/TOMOKAPEACE/status/1618628579440619521",
+    "user_created_at": "2015-11-14T13:35:31",
+    "user_description": "１本会フェアリーズ♡好きには全力♡ディズニーとミッキーと大阪とくだらないこと大好きっっ♡👶🏻🍼💕",
+    "user_followers": 250,
+    "user_friends": 44,
+    "user_id": "4234967894",
+    "user_image": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1421660585549123584/MO7HGIV1_normal.jpg",
+    "user_lists": 3,
+    "user_location": "らぶあんどぴーす☺︎❤︎",
+    "user_name": "❤︎𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆❤︎",
+    "user_screen_name": "TOMOKAPEACE",
+    "user_timestamp_utc": 1447508131,
+    "user_tweets": 14905,
+    "user_url": null,
+    "user_verified": false
+  },
+  {
+    "collected_via": [
+      "test"
+    ],
+    "collection_time": "2026-02-23T14:17:43.608715",
     "hashtags": [],
     "id": "1656684087061381121",
     "impression_count": 19422,
diff --git a/test/resources/normalized-tweets-v2.json b/test/resources/normalized-tweets-v2.json
index fcefcd3..72a31f4 100644
--- a/test/resources/normalized-tweets-v2.json
+++ b/test/resources/normalized-tweets-v2.json
@@ -965,5 +965,53 @@
     "user_tweets": 165675,
     "user_url": "https://bfmbusiness.bfmtv.com/",
     "user_verified": false
+  },
+  {
+    "collected_via": [
+      "test"
+    ],
+    "collection_time": "2026-02-23T14:17:43.605763",
+    "hashtags": [],
+    "id": "1618628579440619521",
+    "impression_count": 0,
+    "lang": "ja",
+    "like_count": 0,
+    "links": [],
+    "local_time": "2023-01-26T16:15:00",
+    "match_query": true,
+    "media_files": [],
+    "media_types": [],
+    "media_urls": [],
+    "mentioned_ids": [
+      "135064055"
+    ],
+    "mentioned_names": [
+      "kojiharunyan"
+    ],
+    "possibly_sensitive": false,
+    "quote_count": 0,
+    "reply_count": 0,
+    "retweet_count": 0,
+    "source_name": null,
+    "text": "@kojiharunyan わーん神3🐰🐰🐰💞",
+    "timestamp_utc": 1674746100,
+    "to_tweetid": "1618619004586950657",
+    "to_userid": "135064055",
+    "to_username": "kojiharunyan",
+    "url": "https://twitter.com/TOMOKAPEACE/status/1618628579440619521",
+    "user_created_at": "2015-11-14T14:35:31",
+    "user_description": "１本会フェアリーズ♡好きには全力♡ディズニーとミッキーと大阪とくだらないこと大好きっっ♡👶🏻🍼💕",
+    "user_followers": 250,
+    "user_friends": 44,
+    "user_id": "4234967894",
+    "user_image": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1421660585549123584/MO7HGIV1_normal.jpg",
+    "user_lists": 3,
+    "user_location": "らぶあんどぴーす☺︎❤︎",
+    "user_name": "❤︎𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆❤︎",
+    "user_screen_name": "TOMOKAPEACE",
+    "user_timestamp_utc": 1447508131,
+    "user_tweets": 14905,
+    "user_url": null,
+    "user_verified": false
   }
 ]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/resources/payload-v2-singletweet.json b/test/resources/payload-v2-singletweet.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2b7ec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/resources/payload-v2-singletweet.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"data":{"attachments":{},"author_id":"4234967894","context_annotations":[{"domain":{"id":"46","name":"Business Taxonomy","description":"Categories within Brand Verticals that narrow down the scope of Brands"},"entity":{"id":"1557696802391859201","name":"Entertainment & Leisure Business","description":"Brands, companies, advertisers and every non-person handle with the profit intent related to movies, music, television, franchises, venues, theme parks, toys, tourism, hotels"}},{"domain":{"id":"10","name":"Person","description":"Named people in the world like Nelson Mandela"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"54","name":"Musician","description":"A musician in the world, like Adele or Bob Dylan"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"55","name":"Music Genre","description":"A category for a musical style, like Pop, Rock, or Rap"},"entity":{"id":"810938095772123136","name":"J-pop","description":"J-POP"}},{"domain":{"id":"56","name":"Actor","description":"An actor or actress in the world, like Kate Winslet or Leonardo DiCaprio"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"58","name":"Entertainment Personality","description":"An entertainment personality in the world, like Anderson Cooper or Miranda Sings"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"847524658970636288","name":"Music","description":"Music and radio"}}],"conversation_id":"1618619004586950657","created_at":"2023-01-26T15:15:00.000Z","edit_controls":{"edits_remaining":5,"is_edit_eligible":false,"editable_until":"2023-01-26T15:45:00.000Z"},"edit_history_tweet_ids":["1618628579440619521"],"entities":{"mentions":[{"start":0,"end":13,"username":"kojiharunyan","id":"135064055"}]},"geo":{},"id":"1618628579440619521","in_reply_to_user_id":"135064055","lang":"ja","possibly_sensitive":false,"public_metrics":{"retweet_count":0,"reply_count":0,"like_count":0,"quote_count":0,"impression_count":0},"referenced_tweets":[{"type":"replied_to","id":"1618619004586950657"}],"reply_settings":"everyone","text":"@kojiharunyan わーん神3🐰🐰🐰💞"},"includes":{"users":[{"created_at":"2015-11-14T13:35:31.000Z","description":"１本会フェアリーズ♡好きには全力♡ディズニーとミッキーと大阪とくだらないこと大好きっっ♡👶🏻🍼💕","id":"4234967894","location":"らぶあんどぴーす☺︎❤︎","name":"❤︎𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆❤︎","profile_image_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1421660585549123584/MO7HGIV1_normal.jpg","protected":false,"public_metrics":{"followers_count":250,"following_count":44,"tweet_count":14905,"listed_count":3},"username":"TOMOKAPEACE","verified":false},{"created_at":"2010-04-20T06:57:44.000Z","description":"@herlipto_info Founder & CCO 🐈 https://t.co/PJhnBqxIny","entities":{"url":{"urls":[{"start":0,"end":23,"url":"https://t.co/KHC89msjYl","expanded_url":"https://www.instagram.com/nyanchan22","display_url":"instagram.com/nyanchan22"}]},"description":{"urls":[{"start":31,"end":54,"url":"https://t.co/PJhnBqxIny","expanded_url":"https://www.herlipto.jp","display_url":"herlipto.jp"}],"mentions":[{"start":0,"end":14,"username":"herlipto_info"}]}},"id":"135064055","location":"Tokyo","name":"小嶋 陽菜","pinned_tweet_id":"1495930377663561730","profile_image_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/877735653819142144/WEAzcEyJ_normal.jpg","protected":false,"public_metrics":{"followers_count":3117015,"following_count":231,"tweet_count":13569,"listed_count":14549},"url":"https://t.co/KHC89msjYl","username":"kojiharunyan","verified":true}],"tweets":[{"attachments":{},"author_id":"4234967894","context_annotations":[{"domain":{"id":"46","name":"Business Taxonomy","description":"Categories within Brand Verticals that narrow down the scope of Brands"},"entity":{"id":"1557696802391859201","name":"Entertainment & Leisure Business","description":"Brands, companies, advertisers and every non-person handle with the profit intent related to movies, music, television, franchises, venues, theme parks, toys, tourism, hotels"}},{"domain":{"id":"10","name":"Person","description":"Named people in the world like Nelson Mandela"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"54","name":"Musician","description":"A musician in the world, like Adele or Bob Dylan"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"55","name":"Music Genre","description":"A category for a musical style, like Pop, Rock, or Rap"},"entity":{"id":"810938095772123136","name":"J-pop","description":"J-POP"}},{"domain":{"id":"56","name":"Actor","description":"An actor or actress in the world, like Kate Winslet or Leonardo DiCaprio"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"58","name":"Entertainment Personality","description":"An entertainment personality in the world, like Anderson Cooper or Miranda Sings"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"847524658970636288","name":"Music","description":"Music and radio"}}],"conversation_id":"1618619004586950657","created_at":"2023-01-26T15:15:00.000Z","edit_controls":{"edits_remaining":5,"is_edit_eligible":false,"editable_until":"2023-01-26T15:45:00.000Z"},"edit_history_tweet_ids":["1618628579440619521"],"entities":{"mentions":[{"start":0,"end":13,"username":"kojiharunyan","id":"135064055"}]},"geo":{},"id":"1618628579440619521","in_reply_to_user_id":"135064055","lang":"ja","possibly_sensitive":false,"public_metrics":{"retweet_count":0,"reply_count":0,"like_count":0,"quote_count":0,"impression_count":0},"referenced_tweets":[{"type":"replied_to","id":"1618619004586950657"}],"reply_settings":"everyone","text":"@kojiharunyan わーん神3🐰🐰🐰💞"},{"attachments":{"media_keys":["13_1618618834424070144"]},"author_id":"135064055","context_annotations":[{"domain":{"id":"10","name":"Person","description":"Named people in the world like Nelson Mandela"},"entity":{"id":"987356481501650946","name":"AKB48","description":"AKB48"}},{"domain":{"id":"29","name":"Events [Entity Service]","description":"Real world events. "},"entity":{"id":"1319305164751163393","name":"New Years Eve","description":"This entity includes all conversations for New Years Eve for all years."}},{"domain":{"id":"29","name":"Events [Entity Service]","description":"Real world events. "},"entity":{"id":"1457786335108816904","name":"New Year's day","description":"This entity includes all conversations for the New Year's day for all years. "}},{"domain":{"id":"46","name":"Business Taxonomy","description":"Categories within Brand Verticals that narrow down the scope of Brands"},"entity":{"id":"1557696802391859201","name":"Entertainment & Leisure Business","description":"Brands, companies, advertisers and every non-person handle with the profit intent related to movies, music, television, franchises, venues, theme parks, toys, tourism, hotels"}},{"domain":{"id":"54","name":"Musician","description":"A musician in the world, like Adele or Bob Dylan"},"entity":{"id":"987356481501650946","name":"AKB48","description":"AKB48"}},{"domain":{"id":"55","name":"Music Genre","description":"A category for a musical style, like Pop, Rock, or Rap"},"entity":{"id":"810938095772123136","name":"J-pop","description":"J-POP"}},{"domain":{"id":"119","name":"Holiday","description":"Holidays like Christmas or Halloween"},"entity":{"id":"1319305164751163393","name":"New Years Eve","description":"This entity includes all conversations for New Years Eve for all years."}},{"domain":{"id":"119","name":"Holiday","description":"Holidays like Christmas or Halloween"},"entity":{"id":"1457786335108816904","name":"New Year's day","description":"This entity includes all conversations for the New Year's day for all years. "}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"847524658970636288","name":"Music","description":"Music and radio"}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"847548225712119808","name":"Holidays","description":"Holidays"}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"987356481501650946","name":"AKB48","description":"AKB48"}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"1291095284756357120","name":"Cultural events"}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"1296381531510849536","name":"New Years Eve\t"}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"1436053202835689485","name":"Events"}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"1457786335108816904","name":"New Year's day","description":"This entity includes all conversations for the New Year's day for all years. "}},{"domain":{"id":"10","name":"Person","description":"Named people in the world like Nelson Mandela"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"54","name":"Musician","description":"A musician in the world, like Adele or Bob Dylan"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"55","name":"Music Genre","description":"A category for a musical style, like Pop, Rock, or Rap"},"entity":{"id":"810938095772123136","name":"J-pop","description":"J-POP"}},{"domain":{"id":"56","name":"Actor","description":"An actor or actress in the world, like Kate Winslet or Leonardo DiCaprio"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"58","name":"Entertainment Personality","description":"An entertainment personality in the world, like Anderson Cooper or Miranda Sings"},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"844395767762595840","name":"Haruna Kojima","description":"Haruna Kojima (小嶋陽菜) "}},{"domain":{"id":"131","name":"Unified Twitter Taxonomy","description":"A taxonomy of user interests. "},"entity":{"id":"847524658970636288","name":"Music","description":"Music and radio"}}],"conversation_id":"1618619004586950657","created_at":"2023-01-26T14:36:57.000Z","edit_controls":{"edits_remaining":5,"is_edit_eligible":true,"editable_until":"2023-01-26T15:06:57.000Z"},"edit_history_tweet_ids":["1618619004586950657"],"entities":{"urls":[{"start":135,"end":158,"url":"https://t.co/VyPXVTbAAu","expanded_url":"https://twitter.com/kojiharunyan/status/1618619004586950657/video/1","display_url":"pic.twitter.com/VyPXVTbAAu","media_key":"13_1618618834424070144"}]},"geo":{},"id":"1618619004586950657","lang":"ja","possibly_sensitive":false,"public_metrics":{"retweet_count":82,"reply_count":12,"like_count":917,"quote_count":1,"impression_count":46392},"reply_settings":"everyone","text":"まだ載せてなかった有吉の冬休み新年会の裏側😂AKB48時代からお世話になってるヘアメイクさんがセット中💇‍♀️当時からどんなに踊ってもヘアアクセが取れないように髪とピンで土台を作ってしっかり固定してくれるんだけど、本番ギリギリに田中さんも付けることができました🥹👏🏻✨ https://t.co/VyPXVTbAAu"}]}}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/twitwi/normalizers.py b/twitwi/normalizers.py
index 67e46a8..e5d079e 100644
--- a/twitwi/normalizers.py
+++ b/twitwi/normalizers.py
@@ -879,7 +879,13 @@ def normalize_tweets_payload_v2(
     output = []
     already_seen = {}
 
-    for item in payload["data"]:
+    ## payload can contain just a single tweet
+    if isinstance(payload["data"], dict):
+        items = [payload["data"]]
+    elif isinstance(payload["data"], list):
+        items = payload["data"]
+
+    for item in items:
         normalized_tweets = normalize_tweet_v2(
             item,
             users_by_id=users_by_id,
diff --git a/twitwi/utils.py b/twitwi/utils.py
index 6016b56..6c2766f 100644
--- a/twitwi/utils.py
+++ b/twitwi/utils.py
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@ def validate_payload_v2(payload):
         else:
             return False
 
-    if not isinstance(payload["data"], list):
+    # there can also just be a single tweet in the payload
+    if not isinstance(payload["data"], (list, dict)):
         return False
 
     # NOTE: not sure it cannot be absent altogether