diff --git a/src/routes/api/attributes.js b/src/routes/api/attributes.js
index ac9aed40a..ac751dab1 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/attributes.js
+++ b/src/routes/api/attributes.js
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ async function updateNoteAttributes(req) {
         attributeEntity.isInheritable = attribute.isInheritable;
         attributeEntity.isDeleted = attribute.isDeleted;
 
-        if (attributeEntity.type === 'relation' && !attributeEntity.value.trim()) {
+        if (attributeEntity.type === 'relation' && !attribute.value.trim()) {
             // relation should never have empty target
             attributeEntity.isDeleted = true;
         }