diff --git a/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp b/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
index 2202639a92e43..90900d9acb6ad 100644
--- a/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
+++ b/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@ static std::optional<parser::Substring> FixMisparsedSubstringDataRef(
                   parser::GetLastName(arrElement.base).symbol}) {
             const Symbol &ultimate{symbol->GetUltimate()};
             if (const semantics::DeclTypeSpec *type{ultimate.GetType()}) {
-              if (!ultimate.IsObjectArray() &&
+              if (ultimate.Rank() == 0 &&
                   type->category() == semantics::DeclTypeSpec::Character) {
                 // The ambiguous S(j:k) was parsed as an array section
                 // reference, but it's now clear that it's a substring.