Title: _wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent
Published: March 29, 2023
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# _wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent( array $menu_item_data ): array

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#description)
 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

This function’s access is marked private. This means it is not intended for use 
by plugin or theme developers, only by core. It is listed here for completeness.

Prevents menu items from being their own parent.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

Resets menu_item_parent to 0 when the parent is set to the item itself.
For use 
before saving `_menu_item_menu_item_parent` in nav-menus.php.

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$menu_item_data`arrayrequired

The menu item data array.

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 array The menu item data with reset menu_item_parent.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    function _wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent( $menu_item_data ) {
    	if ( ! is_array( $menu_item_data ) ) {
    		return $menu_item_data;
    	}

    	if (
    		! empty( $menu_item_data['ID'] ) &&
    		! empty( $menu_item_data['menu_item_parent'] ) &&
    		(int) $menu_item_data['ID'] === (int) $menu_item_data['menu_item_parent']
    	) {
    		$menu_item_data['menu_item_parent'] = 0;
    	}

    	return $menu_item_data;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/nav-menu.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/nav-menu.php#L1335)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/nav-menu.php#L1335-L1349)

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_reset_invalid_menu_item_parent/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [6.2.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/6.2.0/) | Introduced. |

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