diff --git a/lib/node.cpp b/lib/node.cpp
index 20b280e62..5c60215b4 100644
--- a/lib/node.cpp
+++ b/lib/node.cpp
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ Node *NodeFactory::make(json_t *json, const uuid_t &id,
   std::string type;
   Node *n;
 
-  if (json_is_object(json))
+  if (!json_is_object(json))
     throw ConfigError(json, "node-config-node",
                       "Node configuration must be an object");