diff --git a/shared/dataflow/codeql/dataflow/internal/DataFlowImpl.qll b/shared/dataflow/codeql/dataflow/internal/DataFlowImpl.qll
index 64222dbc8e34..e6ce90089358 100644
--- a/shared/dataflow/codeql/dataflow/internal/DataFlowImpl.qll
+++ b/shared/dataflow/codeql/dataflow/internal/DataFlowImpl.qll
@@ -460,12 +460,15 @@ module MakeImpl<LocationSig Location, InputSig<Location> Lang> {
       stepFilter(node1, node2)
     }
 
+    pragma[nomagic]
+    private predicate hasReadStep(Content c) { read(_, c, _) }
+
     pragma[nomagic]
     private predicate storeEx(
       NodeEx node1, Content c, NodeEx node2, DataFlowType contentType, DataFlowType containerType
     ) {
       storeExUnrestricted(node1, c, node2, contentType, containerType) and
-      read(_, c, _)
+      hasReadStep(c)
     }
 
     pragma[nomagic]