diff --git a/packages/rulesets/generated/spectral/az-arm.js b/packages/rulesets/generated/spectral/az-arm.js
index 5110f42f4..e7897fa30 100644
--- a/packages/rulesets/generated/spectral/az-arm.js
+++ b/packages/rulesets/generated/spectral/az-arm.js
@@ -2351,15 +2351,14 @@ const errorMessageObject = "Properties with type:object that don't reference a m
 const errorMessageNull = "Properties with 'type' NULL are not allowed, please specify the 'type' as 'Primitive' or 'Object' referring a model.";
 const propertiesTypeObjectNoDefinition = (definitionObject, opts, ctx) => {
     const path = ctx.path || [];
+    if ((definitionObject === null || definitionObject === void 0 ? void 0 : definitionObject.type) === "") {
+        return [{ message: errorMessageNull, path }];
+    }
     if (definitionObject === null || definitionObject === void 0 ? void 0 : definitionObject.properties) {
         if (definitionObject.properties === null) {
             return [{ message: errorMessageNull, path }];
         }
     }
-    const values = Object.values(definitionObject);
-    if ((definitionObject === null || definitionObject === void 0 ? void 0 : definitionObject.type) === "") {
-        return [{ message: errorMessageNull, path }];
-    }
     if (typeof definitionObject === "object") {
         if (definitionObject.allOf) {
             return;
@@ -2370,6 +2369,7 @@ const propertiesTypeObjectNoDefinition = (definitionObject, opts, ctx) => {
             }
         }
     }
+    const values = Object.values(definitionObject);
     for (const val of values) {
         if (typeof val === "object") {
             if (val === null) {
diff --git a/packages/rulesets/src/spectral/functions/properties-type-object-no-definition.ts b/packages/rulesets/src/spectral/functions/properties-type-object-no-definition.ts
index 686c5bd68..856ce491a 100644
--- a/packages/rulesets/src/spectral/functions/properties-type-object-no-definition.ts
+++ b/packages/rulesets/src/spectral/functions/properties-type-object-no-definition.ts
@@ -1,23 +1,23 @@
 // If a property is defined with `'type': 'object'`, it must also define an object body.
 // RPC Code: RPC-Policy-V1-03
-const errorMessageObject =
-  "Properties with type:object that don't reference a model definition are not allowed. ARM doesn't allow generic type definitions as this leads to bad customer experience."
-const errorMessageNull =
-  "Properties with 'type' NULL are not allowed, please specify the 'type' as 'Primitive' or 'Object' referring a model."
+
+const errorMessageObject = "Properties with type:object that don't reference a model definition are not allowed. ARM doesn't allow generic type definitions as this leads to bad customer experience."
+const errorMessageNull = "Properties with 'type' NULL are not allowed, please specify the 'type' as 'Primitive' or 'Object' referring a model."
+
 export const propertiesTypeObjectNoDefinition: any = (definitionObject: any, opts: any, ctx: any) => {
   const path = ctx.path || []
 
+  // return errorMessageNull if type or properties are null
+  if (definitionObject?.type === "") {
+    return [{ message: errorMessageNull, path }]
+  }
+
   if (definitionObject?.properties) {
     if (definitionObject.properties === null) {
       return [{ message: errorMessageNull, path }]
     }
   }
 
-  const values = Object.values(definitionObject)
-  if (definitionObject?.type === "") {
-    return [{ message: errorMessageNull, path }]
-  }
-
   if (typeof definitionObject === "object") {
     if (definitionObject.allOf) {
       return
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ export const propertiesTypeObjectNoDefinition: any = (definitionObject: any, opt
     }
   }
 
+  const values = Object.values(definitionObject)
   for (const val of values) {
     if (typeof val === "object") {
       if (val === null) {
diff --git a/packages/rulesets/src/spectral/test/properties-type-object-no-definition.test.ts b/packages/rulesets/src/spectral/test/properties-type-object-no-definition.test.ts
index 44426ad0f..25ce0fcc6 100644
--- a/packages/rulesets/src/spectral/test/properties-type-object-no-definition.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rulesets/src/spectral/test/properties-type-object-no-definition.test.ts
@@ -487,3 +487,69 @@ test("PropertiesTypeObjectNoDefinition should find no errors for type allOf", ()
     expect(results.length).toBe(0)
   })
 })
+
+test("PropertiesTypeObjectNoDefinition should find errors when type:object is not defined", () => {
+  const oasDoc = {
+    swagger: "2.0",
+    info: {
+      version: "4.0",
+      title: "Common types",
+    },
+    paths: {},
+    definitions: {
+      VirtualMachineScaleSetExtension: {
+        properties: {
+          name: {
+            type: "string",
+            description: "The name of the extension.",
+          },
+          type: {
+            readOnly: true,
+            type: "string",
+            description: "Resource type",
+          },
+          properties: {
+            "x-ms-client-flatten": true,
+            $ref: "#/definitions/VirtualMachineScaleSetExtensionProperties",
+          },
+        },
+        description: "Describes a Virtual Machine Scale Set Extension.",
+      },
+      VirtualMachineScaleSetExtensionListResult: {
+        properties: {
+          value: {
+            type: "array",
+            items: {
+              $ref: "#/definitions/VirtualMachineScaleSetExtension",
+            },
+            description: "The list of VM scale set extensions.",
+          },
+          nextLink: {
+            type: "string",
+            description:
+              "The uri to fetch the next page of VM scale set extensions. Call ListNext() with this to fetch the next page of VM scale set extensions.",
+          },
+        },
+        required: ["value"],
+        description: "The List VM scale set extension operation response.",
+      },
+      VirtualMachineScaleSetExtensionProperties: {
+        properties: {
+          settings: {
+            type: "object",
+            description: "Json formatted public settings for the extension.",
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    },
+  }
+  return linter.run(oasDoc).then((results) => {
+    expect(results.length).toBe(3)
+    expect(results[0].path.join(".")).toBe("definitions.VirtualMachineScaleSetExtension.properties.properties.properties.settings"),
+    expect(results[0].message).toBe(errorMessageObject),
+    expect(results[1].path.join(".")).toBe("definitions.VirtualMachineScaleSetExtensionListResult.properties.value.items.properties.properties.properties.settings"),
+    expect(results[1].message).toBe(errorMessageObject),
+    expect(results[2].path.join(".")).toBe("definitions.VirtualMachineScaleSetExtensionProperties.properties.settings"),
+    expect(results[2].message).toBe(errorMessageObject)
+  })
+})