diff --git a/tooling/validate-content b/tooling/validate-content
index 830ffd466..c8ffab01b 100755
--- a/tooling/validate-content
+++ b/tooling/validate-content
@@ -472,8 +472,8 @@ class ContentIndex:
                 if pair in checked:
                     continue
                 checked.add(pair)
-                if target in npc_rels and cid not in npc_rels.get(target, set()):
-                    print(f"XREF WARNING: {cid} has relationship to {target} but no reciprocal found")
+                if target in self.npcs and cid not in npc_rels.get(target, set()):
+                    print(f"XREF WARNING: {cid} has relationship to {target} but {target} has no reciprocal entry")
                     warnings += 1
         return warnings