diff --git a/sarracenia/postformat/__init__.py b/sarracenia/postformat/__init__.py
index 172e71d2c..24367b827 100644
--- a/sarracenia/postformat/__init__.py
+++ b/sarracenia/postformat/__init__.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def topicDerive(msg, options, topicOverride=None ) -> list:
             topic_prefix = options['topicPrefix']
             topic_separator='.'
 
-        if topicOverride in msg:
+        if topicOverride:
             if topicOverride is list:
                 topic = topicOverride
             else: