diff --git a/src/fields/relationshipPopulationPromise.ts b/src/fields/relationshipPopulationPromise.ts
index 0cf39bd1e4c..5a9d1fc68c2 100644
--- a/src/fields/relationshipPopulationPromise.ts
+++ b/src/fields/relationshipPopulationPromise.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ const populate = async ({
       idString = idString.toString();
     }
 
-    let populatedRelationship = null;
+    let populatedRelationship;
 
     if (depth && currentDepth <= depth) {
       populatedRelationship = await payload.operations.collections.findByID({