diff --git a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/util/selector.py b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/util/selector.py
index 7f41ce1001..d20b36a417 100644
--- a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/util/selector.py
+++ b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/util/selector.py
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ def set_element_value(
                             if value in ("True", "true", "TRUE", "Yes", "1"):
                                 value = True
                             elif value in ("False", "false", "FALSE", "No", "0"):
-                                value = True
+                                value = False
                             else:
                                 value = bool(value)
                         return setattr(element, key, value)