diff --git a/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/extract_camera_alembic.py b/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/extract_camera_alembic.py
index 4110ad474d1..b744bfd0feb 100644
--- a/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/extract_camera_alembic.py
+++ b/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/extract_camera_alembic.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def process(self, instance):
 
         # get cameras
         members = instance.data['setMembers']
-        cameras = cmds.ls(members, leaf=True, shapes=True, long=True,
+        cameras = cmds.ls(members, leaf=True, long=True,
                           dag=True, type="camera")
 
         # validate required settings
@@ -61,10 +61,30 @@ def process(self, instance):
 
             if bake_to_worldspace:
                 job_str += ' -worldSpace'
-                for member in member_shapes:
-                    self.log.info(f"processing {member}")
+
+                # if baked, drop the camera hierarchy to maintain
+                # clean output and backwards compatibility
+                camera_root = cmds.listRelatives(
+                    camera, parent=True, fullPath=True)[0]
+                job_str += ' -root {0}'.format(camera_root)
+
+                for member in members:
+                    descendants = cmds.listRelatives(member,
+                                                     allDescendents=True,
+                                                     fullPath=True) or []
+                    shapes = cmds.ls(descendants, shapes=True,
+                                     noIntermediate=True, long=True)
+                    cameras = cmds.ls(shapes, type="camera", long=True)
+                    if cameras:
+                        if not set(shapes) - set(cameras):
+                            continue
+                        self.log.warning((
+                            "Camera hierarchy contains additional geometry. "
+                            "Extraction will fail.")
+                        )
                     transform = cmds.listRelatives(
-                        member, parent=True, fullPath=True)[0]
+                        member, parent=True, fullPath=True)
+                    transform = transform[0] if transform else member
                     job_str += ' -root {0}'.format(transform)
 
             job_str += ' -file "{0}"'.format(path)
diff --git a/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/extract_camera_mayaScene.py b/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/extract_camera_mayaScene.py
index 1cb30e65ea2..8d6c4b5f3ce 100644
--- a/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/extract_camera_mayaScene.py
+++ b/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/extract_camera_mayaScene.py
@@ -172,18 +172,19 @@ def process(self, instance):
                                                       dag=True,
                                                       shapes=True,
                                                       long=True)
+
+                    attrs = {"backgroundColorR": 0.0,
+                             "backgroundColorG": 0.0,
+                             "backgroundColorB": 0.0,
+                             "overscan": 1.0}
+
                     # Fix PLN-178: Don't allow background color to be non-black
-                    for cam in cmds.ls(
+                    for cam, (attr, value) in itertools.product(cmds.ls(
                             baked_camera_shapes, type="camera", dag=True,
-                            shapes=True, long=True):
-                        attrs = {"backgroundColorR": 0.0,
-                                 "backgroundColorG": 0.0,
-                                 "backgroundColorB": 0.0,
-                                 "overscan": 1.0}
-                        for attr, value in attrs.items():
-                            plug = "{0}.{1}".format(cam, attr)
-                            unlock(plug)
-                            cmds.setAttr(plug, value)
+                            long=True), attrs.items()):
+                        plug = "{0}.{1}".format(cam, attr)
+                        unlock(plug)
+                        cmds.setAttr(plug, value)
 
                     self.log.info("Performing extraction..")
                     cmds.select(cmds.ls(members, dag=True,
diff --git a/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/validate_camera_contents.py b/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/validate_camera_contents.py
index 87712a4cea7..5f6faddbe7a 100644
--- a/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/validate_camera_contents.py
+++ b/openpype/hosts/maya/plugins/publish/validate_camera_contents.py
@@ -51,18 +51,7 @@ def get_invalid(cls, instance):
                 raise RuntimeError("No cameras found in empty instance.")
 
         if not cls.validate_shapes:
-            cls.log.info("Not validating shapes in the content.")
-
-            for member in members:
-                parents = cmds.ls(member, long=True)[0].split("|")[1:-1]
-                parents_long_named = [
-                    "|".join(parents[:i]) for i in range(1, 1 + len(parents))
-                ]
-                if cameras[0] in parents_long_named:
-                    cls.log.error(
-                        "{} is parented under camera {}".format(
-                            member, cameras[0]))
-                    invalid.extend(member)
+            cls.log.info("not validating shapes in the content")
             return invalid
 
         # non-camera shapes