diff --git a/evennia/utils/utils.py b/evennia/utils/utils.py
index cbf52c095..e4328d492 100644
--- a/evennia/utils/utils.py
+++ b/evennia/utils/utils.py
@@ -1666,9 +1666,8 @@ def m_len(target):
     """
     # Would create circular import if in module root.
     from evennia.utils.ansi import ANSI_PARSER
-    if inherits_from(target, basestring):
-        if "|lt" in target:
-            return len(ANSI_PARSER.strip_mxp(target))
+    if inherits_from(target, basestring) and "|lt" in target:
+        return len(ANSI_PARSER.strip_mxp(target))
     return len(target)
 
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