diff --git a/email_template_qweb/models/mail_template.py b/email_template_qweb/models/mail_template.py
index 978e3bf2..a8865a70 100644
--- a/email_template_qweb/models/mail_template.py
+++ b/email_template_qweb/models/mail_template.py
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ class MailTemplate(models.Model):
 
     @api.multi
     def generate_email(self, res_ids, fields=None):
+        multi_mode = True
+        if isinstance(res_ids, (int, long)):
+            res_ids = [res_ids]
+            multi_mode = False
         result = super(MailTemplate, self).generate_email(
             res_ids, fields=fields
         )
@@ -32,4 +36,4 @@ class MailTemplate(models.Model):
                     result[record_id]['body'] = tools.html_sanitize(
                         result[record_id]['body_html']
                     )
-        return result
+        return multi_mode and result or result[res_ids[0]]
diff --git a/email_template_qweb/tests/test_mail_template_qweb.py b/email_template_qweb/tests/test_mail_template_qweb.py
index c80773e8..c82864d8 100644
--- a/email_template_qweb/tests/test_mail_template_qweb.py
+++ b/email_template_qweb/tests/test_mail_template_qweb.py
@@ -15,3 +15,12 @@ class TestMailTemplateQweb(TransactionCase):
                 mail_values[self.env.user.id]['body_html']
             )
         )
+        # the same method is also called in a non multi mode
+        mail_values = template.generate_email(self.env.user.id)
+        self.assertTrue(
+            # this comes from the called template if everything worked
+            '<footer>' in mail_values['body_html'],
+            'Did not rcv rendered template in response. Got: \n%s\n' % (
+                mail_values['body_html']
+            )
+        )