diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/message_service.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/message_service.py
index 9129919ac..d260f53d2 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/message_service.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/message_service.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class MessageService:
     @classmethod
     def correlate_send_message(
         cls, message_instance_send: MessageInstanceModel
-    ) -> MessageInstanceModel | None:
+    ) -> Optional[MessageInstanceModel]:
         """Connects the given send message to a 'receive' message if possible.
 
         :param message_instance_send: