diff --git a/client/ayon_core/pipeline/publish/lib.py b/client/ayon_core/pipeline/publish/lib.py
index 0c1029d282..85b70f11be 100644
--- a/client/ayon_core/pipeline/publish/lib.py
+++ b/client/ayon_core/pipeline/publish/lib.py
@@ -1081,7 +1081,7 @@ def has_trait_representations(
         False: Instance does not have trait representation.
 
     """
-    return bool(instance.data.get(TRAIT_INSTANCE_KEY))
+    return TRAIT_INSTANCE_KEY in instance.data
 
 
 def add_trait_representations(