diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/java/util/common/parsers/JSONFlattenerMaker.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/java/util/common/parsers/JSONFlattenerMaker.java
index 6df37ae1d11..18f73fa9def 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/java/util/common/parsers/JSONFlattenerMaker.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/java/util/common/parsers/JSONFlattenerMaker.java
@@ -86,7 +86,14 @@ public class JSONFlattenerMaker implements ObjectFlatteners.FlattenerMaker<JsonN
   public Function<JsonNode, Object> makeJsonPathExtractor(final String expr)
   {
     final JsonPath jsonPath = JsonPath.compile(expr);
-    return node -> valueConversionFunction(jsonPath.read(node, JSONPATH_CONFIGURATION));
+    return node -> {
+      Object val = jsonPath.read(node, JSONPATH_CONFIGURATION);
+      if (val instanceof JsonNode) {
+        return valueConversionFunction((JsonNode) val);
+      } else {
+        return val;
+      }
+    };
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -115,17 +122,7 @@ public class JSONFlattenerMaker implements ObjectFlatteners.FlattenerMaker<JsonN
   }
 
   @Nullable
-  private Object valueConversionFunction(Object val)
-  {
-    if (val instanceof JsonNode) {
-      return convertJsonNode((JsonNode) val);
-    } else {
-      return val;
-    }
-  }
-
-  @Nullable
-  private Object convertJsonNode(JsonNode val)
+  private Object valueConversionFunction(JsonNode val)
   {
     if (val == null || val.isNull()) {
       return null;