diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/vtable.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/vtable.el
index 15a430f5c26..5f7d3ae5210 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/vtable.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/vtable.el
@@ -743,7 +743,7 @@ If NEXT, do the next column."
     (seq-do-indexed
      (lambda (elem index)
        (when (and (vtable-column--numerical (elt columns index))
-                  (not (numberp elem)))
+                  (not (numberp (car elem))))
          (setq recompute t)))
      line)
     (when recompute