diff --git a/api/src/services/payload.ts b/api/src/services/payload.ts
index 22eb1c348a..af2018f448 100644
--- a/api/src/services/payload.ts
+++ b/api/src/services/payload.ts
@@ -376,10 +376,10 @@ export class PayloadService {
 			});
 
 			const relatedRecord: Partial<Item> = payload[relation.many_field];
-			const hasPrimaryKey = relation.one_primary in relatedRecord;
 
 			if (['string', 'number'].includes(typeof relatedRecord)) continue;
 
+			const hasPrimaryKey = relation.one_primary in relatedRecord;
 			let relatedPrimaryKey: PrimaryKey = relatedRecord[relation.one_primary];
 
 			const exists =