diff --git a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/entity_instance.py b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/entity_instance.py
index e657f2523e..82b5dcbff2 100644
--- a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/entity_instance.py
+++ b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/entity_instance.py
@@ -476,6 +476,8 @@ class entity_instance(object):
                         continue
                     attr_value = self[i]
 
+                    to_include = {'v': True}
+
                     if recursive or scalar_only:
 
                         def is_instance(e):
@@ -490,8 +492,6 @@ class entity_instance(object):
                                 ignore=ignore,
                             )
 
-                        to_include = {'v': True}
-
                         def do_ignore(inst):
                             to_include['v'] = False
                             return None