diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/service_map/dedupe_connections/index.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/service_map/dedupe_connections/index.test.ts
index 01d6a2e2e81bc..572d73e368c7a 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/service_map/dedupe_connections/index.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/service_map/dedupe_connections/index.test.ts
@@ -140,4 +140,21 @@ describe('dedupeConnections', () => {
     // @ts-ignore
     expect(nodejsNode?.data[SPAN_SUBTYPE]).toBe('aa');
   });
+
+  it('processes connections without a matching "service" aggregation', () => {
+    const response: ServiceMapResponse = {
+      services: [javaService],
+      discoveredServices: [],
+      connections: [
+        {
+          source: javaService,
+          destination: nodejsService
+        }
+      ]
+    };
+
+    const { elements } = dedupeConnections(response);
+
+    expect(elements.length).toBe(3);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/service_map/dedupe_connections/index.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/service_map/dedupe_connections/index.ts
index 6a433367d8217..e5d7c0b2de10c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/service_map/dedupe_connections/index.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/service_map/dedupe_connections/index.ts
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ export function dedupeConnections(response: ServiceMapResponse) {
       serviceName = node[SERVICE_NAME];
     }
 
-    const matchedServiceNodes = services.filter(
+    const matchedServiceNodes = serviceNodes.filter(
       serviceNode => serviceNode[SERVICE_NAME] === serviceName
     );