diff --git a/src/pipewire/conf.c b/src/pipewire/conf.c
index cc0c65d61..e0fe202bb 100644
--- a/src/pipewire/conf.c
+++ b/src/pipewire/conf.c
@@ -712,7 +712,7 @@ bool pw_conf_find_match(struct spa_json *arr, const struct spa_dict *props, bool
 						reg = false;
 					}
 				}
-				if (spa_json_begin_array_relax(&it[1], str, strlen(str)) > 0) {
+				if (spa_json_begin_array(&it[1], str, strlen(str)) > 0) {
 					while (spa_json_get_string(&it[1], v, sizeof(v)) > 0) {
 						if ((reg && regexec(&preg, v, 0, NULL, 0) == 0) ||
 								spa_streq(v, val)) {