diff --git a/src/caosdb/common/models.py b/src/caosdb/common/models.py
index 35c6720589c37a4ee5b8160e29a262f180e628be..92dd3dc320d9e59d3ebc5e54983fb8b04bd5ddde 100644
--- a/src/caosdb/common/models.py
+++ b/src/caosdb/common/models.py
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ def entity_id(eid):
 def is_temporary_id(eid):
     if experimental_string_ids():
         return entity_id(eid).startswith("-")
-    return entity(eid) < 0
+    return entity_id(eid) < 0
 
 
 class Entity: