diff --git a/code/game/area/areas.dm b/code/game/area/areas.dm
index 45f449ad978..233426aff38 100644
--- a/code/game/area/areas.dm
+++ b/code/game/area/areas.dm
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ var/global/list/mob/living/forced_ambiance_list = new
 	if(LAZYLEN(forced_ambience) && !(L in forced_ambiance_list))
 		forced_ambiance_list += L
 		L.playsound_local(T,sound(pick(forced_ambience), repeat = 1, wait = 0, volume = 25, channel = sound_channels.lobby_channel))
-	if(ambience.len && prob(5) && (world.time >= L.client.played + 3 MINUTES))
+	if(length(ambience) && prob(5) && (world.time >= L.client.played + 3 MINUTES))
 		L.playsound_local(T, sound(pick(ambience), repeat = 0, wait = 0, volume = 15, channel = sound_channels.ambience_channel))
 		L.client.played = world.time