diff --git a/syft/format/internal/cyclonedxutil/helpers/licenses.go b/syft/format/internal/cyclonedxutil/helpers/licenses.go
index a092d3abdf3b..24c5d6ffb79c 100644
--- a/syft/format/internal/cyclonedxutil/helpers/licenses.go
+++ b/syft/format/internal/cyclonedxutil/helpers/licenses.go
@@ -54,17 +54,14 @@ func decodeLicenses(c *cyclonedx.Component) []pkg.License {
 	}
 
 	for _, l := range *c.Licenses {
-		if l.License == nil {
-			continue
-		}
 		// these fields are mutually exclusive in the spec
 		switch {
-		case l.License.ID != "":
+		case l.License != nil && l.License.ID != "":
 			licenses = append(licenses, pkg.NewLicenseFromURLs(l.License.ID, l.License.URL))
-		case l.License.Name != "":
+		case l.License != nil && l.License.Name != "":
 			licenses = append(licenses, pkg.NewLicenseFromURLs(l.License.Name, l.License.URL))
 		case l.Expression != "":
-			licenses = append(licenses, pkg.NewLicenseFromURLs(l.Expression, l.License.URL))
+			licenses = append(licenses, pkg.NewLicense(l.Expression))
 		default:
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/syft/format/internal/cyclonedxutil/helpers/licenses_test.go b/syft/format/internal/cyclonedxutil/helpers/licenses_test.go
index e2532f607d45..373a09377589 100644
--- a/syft/format/internal/cyclonedxutil/helpers/licenses_test.go
+++ b/syft/format/internal/cyclonedxutil/helpers/licenses_test.go
@@ -254,7 +254,8 @@ func TestDecodeLicenses(t *testing.T) {
 			input: &cyclonedx.Component{
 				Licenses: &cyclonedx.Licenses{
 					{
-						License:    &cyclonedx.License{},
+						// CycloneDX specification doesn't allow to provide License if Expression is provided
+						License:    nil,
 						Expression: "MIT AND GPL-3.0-only WITH Classpath-exception-2.0",
 					},
 				},
@@ -264,7 +265,6 @@ func TestDecodeLicenses(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:          "MIT AND GPL-3.0-only WITH Classpath-exception-2.0",
 					SPDXExpression: "MIT AND GPL-3.0-only WITH Classpath-exception-2.0",
 					Type:           license.Declared,
-					URLs:           []string{},
 				},
 			},
 		},