diff --git a/src/wp-includes/meta.php b/src/wp-includes/meta.php
index 6b361aaa5e..c2ba1eb172 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/meta.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/meta.php
@@ -1146,7 +1146,7 @@ function update_meta_cache( $meta_type, $object_ids ) {
 	 */
 	$check = apply_filters( "update_{$meta_type}_metadata_cache", null, $object_ids );
 	if ( null !== $check ) {
-		return (bool) $check;
+		return is_array( $check ) ? $check : (bool) $check;
 	}
 
 	$cache_key      = $meta_type . '_meta';