diff --git a/pkg/apply/desiredset_compare.go b/pkg/apply/desiredset_compare.go
index e4742d32..1a2e029e 100644
--- a/pkg/apply/desiredset_compare.go
+++ b/pkg/apply/desiredset_compare.go
@@ -200,7 +200,8 @@ func removeDeletionsFromPatch(data map[string]interface{}, field []string) bool
 				result := false
 				// list item is an object, recurse
 				if mapValue, ok := item.(map[string]interface{}); ok {
-					result = result || removeDeletionsFromPatch(mapValue, field[1:])
+					deletionResult := removeDeletionsFromPatch(mapValue, field[1:])
+					result = result || deletionResult
 				}
 				return result
 			}