diff --git a/csharp/ql/lib/semmle/code/csharp/Conversion.qll b/csharp/ql/lib/semmle/code/csharp/Conversion.qll
index e9222c469a7..ec7ef9cac95 100644
--- a/csharp/ql/lib/semmle/code/csharp/Conversion.qll
+++ b/csharp/ql/lib/semmle/code/csharp/Conversion.qll
@@ -533,9 +533,7 @@ predicate convSpan(Type fromType, Type toType) {
     ) and
     toElementType = toType.(ReadOnlySpanType).getElementType()
   |
-    convIdentity(fromElementType, toElementType)
-    or
-    convVariance(fromElementType, toElementType)
+    convRefTypeNonNull(fromElementType, toElementType)
   )
   or
   fromType instanceof SystemStringClass and