diff --git a/erpnext/patches/v12_0/set_employee_preferred_emails.py b/erpnext/patches/v12_0/set_employee_preferred_emails.py
index 27635612f9..f6eb12e2b9 100644
--- a/erpnext/patches/v12_0/set_employee_preferred_emails.py
+++ b/erpnext/patches/v12_0/set_employee_preferred_emails.py
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ def execute():
 		fields=["name", "prefered_contact_email", "company_email", "personal_email", "user_id"])
 
 	for employee in employees:
-		preferred_email_field = frappe.scrub(employee.prefered_contact_email)
-
-		if not preferred_email_field:
+		if not employee.prefered_contact_email:
 			continue
 
+		preferred_email_field = frappe.scrub(employee.prefered_contact_email)
+
 		preferred_email = employee.get(preferred_email_field)
 		frappe.db.set_value("Employee", employee.name, "prefered_email", preferred_email, update_modified=False)