diff --git a/src/comm/LinkManager.cc b/src/comm/LinkManager.cc
index b15f4d3b958ca03dbc861eff29014c1d7836d818..d5761132204a08700651a071d71e6d2a83fa22fb 100644
--- a/src/comm/LinkManager.cc
+++ b/src/comm/LinkManager.cc
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ void LinkManager::_addLink(LinkInterface* link)
 
         // Find a mavlink channel to use for this link
         for (int i=0; i<32; i++) {
-            if (!(_mavlinkChannelsUsedBitMask && 1 << i)) {
+            if (!(_mavlinkChannelsUsedBitMask & 1 << i)) {
                 mavlink_reset_channel_status(i);
                 link->_setMavlinkChannel(i);
                 _mavlinkChannelsUsedBitMask |= i << i;