diff --git a/skbase/base/_meta.py b/skbase/base/_meta.py
index 63c8b0d6..c87f557e 100644
--- a/skbase/base/_meta.py
+++ b/skbase/base/_meta.py
@@ -427,8 +427,7 @@ def _check_objects(
         if (
             objs is None
             or (not allow_empty and len(objs) == 0)
-            or not (isinstance(objs, list)
-            or (allow_dict and isinstance(objs, dict)))
+            or not (isinstance(objs, list) or (allow_dict and isinstance(objs, dict)))
         ):
             raise TypeError(msg)