diff --git a/docarray/array/queryset/lookup.py b/docarray/array/queryset/lookup.py
index b31a503b822..b41643914a3 100644
--- a/docarray/array/queryset/lookup.py
+++ b/docarray/array/queryset/lookup.py
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 """
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
+from docarray.document.data import _is_not_empty
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from docarray import Document
 import re
@@ -121,7 +123,7 @@ def lookup(key, val, doc: 'Document') -> bool:
 
             return is_empty != val
         else:
-            return (get_key in doc.non_empty_fields) == val
+            return (_is_not_empty(get_key, value)) == val
     else:
         # return value == val
         raise ValueError(
diff --git a/docarray/document/data.py b/docarray/document/data.py
index 6b033da23a0..c6e4f53f3ea 100644
--- a/docarray/document/data.py
+++ b/docarray/document/data.py
@@ -35,6 +35,27 @@
 _all_mime_types = set(mimetypes.types_map.values())
 
 
+def _is_not_empty(attribute, value):
+    if value is not None:
+        if attribute not in default_values:
+            return True
+        else:
+            dv = default_values[attribute]
+            if dv in (
+                'ChunkArray',
+                'MatchArray',
+                'DocumentArray',
+                list,
+                dict,
+                'Dict[str, NamedScore]',
+            ):
+                if value:
+                    return True
+            elif value != dv:
+                return True
+    return False
+
+
 @dataclass(unsafe_hash=True, eq=False)
 class DocumentData:
     _reference_doc: 'Document' = field(hash=False, compare=False)
@@ -67,23 +88,8 @@ def _non_empty_fields(self) -> Tuple[str]:
             f_name = f.name
             if not f_name.startswith('_') or f_name == '_metadata':
                 v = getattr(self, f_name)
-                if v is not None:
-                    if f_name not in default_values:
-                        r.append(f_name)
-                    else:
-                        dv = default_values[f_name]
-                        if dv in (
-                            'ChunkArray',
-                            'MatchArray',
-                            'DocumentArray',
-                            list,
-                            dict,
-                            'Dict[str, NamedScore]',
-                        ):
-                            if v:
-                                r.append(f_name)
-                        elif v != dv:
-                            r.append(f_name)
+                if _is_not_empty(f_name, v):
+                    r.append(f_name)
 
         return tuple(r)