diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ml/common/util/object_utils.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/ml/common/util/object_utils.test.ts
index f514cfd27ce2c..40ce0b27deae8 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ml/common/util/object_utils.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ml/common/util/object_utils.test.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,6 @@ describe('object_utils', () => {
         'attribute1',
         'otherAttribute',
       ])
-    ).toBe(true);
+    ).toBe(false);
   });
 });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/jobs/new_job/common/job_creator/util/filter_runtime_mappings.ts b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/jobs/new_job/common/job_creator/util/filter_runtime_mappings.ts
index e3e26d76cf6e7..5995224ef3254 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/jobs/new_job/common/job_creator/util/filter_runtime_mappings.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/jobs/new_job/common/job_creator/util/filter_runtime_mappings.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@ interface Response {
 
 export function filterRuntimeMappings(job: Job, datafeed: Datafeed): Response {
   if (
-    datafeed.runtime_mappings === undefined ||
-    isPopulatedObject(datafeed.runtime_mappings) === false
+    !(
+      isPopulatedObject(datafeed, ['runtime_mappings']) &&
+      isPopulatedObject(datafeed.runtime_mappings)
+    )
   ) {
     return {
       runtime_mappings: {},
@@ -83,13 +85,10 @@ function findFieldsInJob(job: Job, datafeed: Datafeed) {
   return [...usedFields];
 }
 
-function findFieldsInAgg(obj: Record<string, object>) {
+function findFieldsInAgg(obj: Record<string, unknown>) {
   const fields: string[] = [];
   Object.entries(obj).forEach(([key, val]) => {
-    if (
-      isPopulatedObject<Record<string, object>>(val) &&
-      Object.keys(val).every((d) => typeof d === 'object')
-    ) {
+    if (isPopulatedObject(val)) {
       fields.push(...findFieldsInAgg(val));
     } else if (typeof val === 'string' && key === 'field') {
       fields.push(val);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/transform/common/utils/object_utils.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/transform/common/utils/object_utils.test.ts
index 176b57a296dfa..fd0edeeb42a44 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/transform/common/utils/object_utils.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/transform/common/utils/object_utils.test.ts
@@ -88,6 +88,6 @@ describe('object_utils', () => {
         'attribute1',
         'otherAttribute',
       ])
-    ).toBe(true);
+    ).toBe(false);
   });
 });