diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/GenericDataFile.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/GenericDataFile.java
index 80425cdd0c80..03d1015fb921 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/GenericDataFile.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/GenericDataFile.java
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ public Object get(int i) {
       case 12:
         return upperBounds;
       case 13:
-        return keyMetadata;
+        return keyMetadata();
       case 14:
         return splitOffsets;
       default: