diff --git a/src/esx/esx_vi.c b/src/esx/esx_vi.c
index 4a8c709fac..8bcd76c7e4 100644
--- a/src/esx/esx_vi.c
+++ b/src/esx/esx_vi.c
@@ -1763,11 +1763,8 @@ esxVI_LookupObjectContentByType(esxVI_Context *ctx,
      * Remove values given by the caller from the data structures to prevent
      * them from being freed by the call to esxVI_PropertyFilterSpec_Free().
      */
-    if (objectSpec != NULL) {
-        objectSpec->obj = NULL;
-        objectSpec->selectSet = NULL;
-    }
-
+    objectSpec->obj = NULL;
+    objectSpec->selectSet = NULL;
     if (propertySpec != NULL) {
         propertySpec->type = NULL;
         propertySpec->pathSet = NULL;