diff --git a/lib/rules/jsx-max-depth.js b/lib/rules/jsx-max-depth.js
index 12206a4081..12625fa704 100644
--- a/lib/rules/jsx-max-depth.js
+++ b/lib/rules/jsx-max-depth.js
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ module.exports = {
     function findJSXElementOrFragment(startNode, name, previousReferences) {
       function find(refs, prevRefs) {
         for (let i = refs.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-          if (has(refs[i], 'writeExpr')) {
+          if (typeof refs[i].writeExpr !== 'undefined') {
             const writeExpr = refs[i].writeExpr;
 
             return (jsxUtil.isJSX(writeExpr)