diff --git a/FWCore/Utilities/src/TypeWithDict.cc b/FWCore/Utilities/src/TypeWithDict.cc
index 86f71aaeb4df8..7efdee0362924 100644
--- a/FWCore/Utilities/src/TypeWithDict.cc
+++ b/FWCore/Utilities/src/TypeWithDict.cc
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ const void*
 TypeWithDict::
 pointerToBaseType(const void* ptr, const TypeWithDict& derivedType) const
 {
-  if (this == &derivedType) {
+  if (this->ti_ == derivedType.ti_ || *this->ti_ == *derivedType.ti_) {
     return ptr;
   }
   int offset = derivedType.getBaseClassOffset(*this);