diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/lua/test_ui_content.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/lua/test_ui_content.cpp
index 10b67638fd..13ee9b6a7d 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/lua/test_ui_content.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/lua/test_ui_content.cpp
@@ -36,6 +36,17 @@ namespace
         }
     };
 
+    TEST_F(LuaUiContentTest, ProtectedMetatable)
+    {
+        mLuaState.sol()["makeContent"] = mNew;
+        mLuaState.sol()["M"] = makeContent(makeTable()).getMetatable();
+        std::string testScript = R"(
+            assert(not pcall(function() setmetatable(makeContent{}, {}) end), 'Metatable is not protected')
+            assert(getmetatable(makeContent{}) ~= M, 'Metatable is not protected')
+        )";
+        EXPECT_NO_THROW(mLuaState.sol().safe_script(testScript));
+    }
+
     TEST_F(LuaUiContentTest, Create)
     {
         auto table = makeTable();
diff --git a/components/lua_ui/content.hpp b/components/lua_ui/content.hpp
index 310d0b9cbe..b29bf82818 100644
--- a/components/lua_ui/content.hpp
+++ b/components/lua_ui/content.hpp
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ namespace LuaUi::Content
         {
             if (index < size())
                 // for some reason mTable[key] = value doesn't call __newindex
-                mTable[sol::metatable_key][sol::meta_function::new_index].get<sol::protected_function>()(
+                getMetatable()[sol::meta_function::new_index].get<sol::protected_function>()(
                     mTable, toLua(index), sol::nil);
             else
                 throw std::range_error("Invalid Content index");
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ namespace LuaUi::Content
                 return std::nullopt;
         }
 
+        sol::table getMetatable() const { return mTable[sol::metatable_key].get<sol::table>(); }
+
     private:
         sol::table mTable;
 
diff --git a/components/lua_ui/content.lua b/components/lua_ui/content.lua
index 7fe1d2cff1..cd63efc7ca 100644
--- a/components/lua_ui/content.lua
+++ b/components/lua_ui/content.lua
@@ -137,7 +137,4 @@ end
 M.__ipairs = M.__pairs
 M.__metatable = {}
 
-assert(not pcall(function() setmetatable(M.new {}, {}) end), 'Metatable is not protected')
-assert(getmetatable(M.new {}) ~= M, 'Metatable is not protected')
-
 return M