diff --git a/CCDB/src/CcdbApi.cxx b/CCDB/src/CcdbApi.cxx
index 6ba38ea34ff50..910e4c8f9d454 100644
--- a/CCDB/src/CcdbApi.cxx
+++ b/CCDB/src/CcdbApi.cxx
@@ -1008,7 +1008,8 @@ void* CcdbApi::extractFromTFile(TFile& file, TClass const* cl, const char* what)
   auto result = object;
   // We need to handle some specific cases as ROOT ties them deeply
   // to the file they are contained in
-  if (cl->InheritsFrom("TObject")) {
+  // IsTObject avoids InheritsFrom, which makes cling instantiate STL collection classes
+  if (cl->IsTObject()) {
     // make a clone
     // detach from the file
     auto tree = dynamic_cast<TTree*>((TObject*)object);