diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 9cc952097..52e8ae99e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ universal = false
 ignore-paths = ["src/galois/_version.py"]
 disable = [
     "comparison-with-callable",     # pylint doesn't understand metaclass properties
+    "duplicate-bases",              # pylint is false alarming on this error
     "fixme",
     "global-statement",
     "invalid-name",
diff --git a/src/galois/_fields/_array.py b/src/galois/_fields/_array.py
index 8b7bf5e5c..a3d75503a 100644
--- a/src/galois/_fields/_array.py
+++ b/src/galois/_fields/_array.py
@@ -1786,7 +1786,7 @@ def _display(self, mode: Literal["repr", "str"], separator=", ") -> str:
 
         string = np.array2string(x, separator=separator, prefix=prefix, suffix=suffix, formatter=formatter)
 
-        if formatter != {}:
+        if formatter:
             # We are using special print methods and must perform element alignment ourselves. We will print each
             # element a second time use the max width of any element observed on the first array2string() call.
             field._element_fixed_width = field._element_fixed_width_counter