diff --git a/src/core/qgsmaplayer.cpp b/src/core/qgsmaplayer.cpp
index c763f2d4c9c..0f233ba63b6 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsmaplayer.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsmaplayer.cpp
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ bool QgsMapLayer::writeLayerXml( QDomElement &layerElement, QDomDocument &docume
     const QgsRectangle extent2D { mExtent2D.isNull() ? extent() : mExtent2D };
     if ( !extent2D.isNull() )
     {
-      layerElement.appendChild( QgsXmlUtils::writeRectangle( mExtent2D, document ) );
+      layerElement.appendChild( QgsXmlUtils::writeRectangle( extent2D, document ) );
     }
   }