diff --git a/src/pyhf/writexml.py b/src/pyhf/writexml.py
index 8d3ecd3ca3..ff7aac800b 100644
--- a/src/pyhf/writexml.py
+++ b/src/pyhf/writexml.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def _export_root_histogram(hist_name, data):
 # https://stackoverflow.com/a/4590052
 def indent(elem, level=0):
     i = "\n" + level * "  "
-    if elem:
+    if elem is not None:
         if not elem.text or not elem.text.strip():
             elem.text = i + "  "
         if not elem.tail or not elem.tail.strip():
diff --git a/tests/test_export.py b/tests/test_export.py
index bba0aa224e..5c1ebed6e2 100644
--- a/tests/test_export.py
+++ b/tests/test_export.py
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ def test_integer_data(datadir, mocker):
     mocker.patch("pyhf.writexml._ROOT_DATA_FILE")
 
     channel = pyhf.writexml.build_channel(spec, channel_spec, {})
-    assert channel
+    assert channel is not None
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(