diff --git a/lib/rules/prefer-template.js b/lib/rules/prefer-template.js
index b3656a575dd..cc53935ab3d 100644
--- a/lib/rules/prefer-template.js
+++ b/lib/rules/prefer-template.js
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ module.exports = {
                 const firstToken = sourceCode.getFirstToken(currentNode.left);
                 const currentNodeText = sourceCode.getText(currentNode);
 
-                if (currentNode === currentNode.parent.left) {
+                if (currentNode.range[0] === currentNode.parent.left.range[0]) {
                     if (isConcatenation(currentNode.right)) {
                         const openingParentesisSign = sourceCode.getFirstTokenBetween(currentNode.left, currentNode.right, token => token.value === "(");
                         const leftNodeText = currentNodeText.slice(0, openingParentesisSign.range[0] - firstToken.range[0]);