diff --git a/datafusion/optimizer/src/simplify_expressions/expr_simplifier.rs b/datafusion/optimizer/src/simplify_expressions/expr_simplifier.rs
index f410ab8190cf..7f7923a96f41 100644
--- a/datafusion/optimizer/src/simplify_expressions/expr_simplifier.rs
+++ b/datafusion/optimizer/src/simplify_expressions/expr_simplifier.rs
@@ -1474,21 +1474,17 @@ impl<'a, S: SimplifyInfo> TreeNodeRewriter for Simplifier<'a, S> {
                 if let Expr::Literal(ScalarValue::Utf8(Some(pattern_str))) =
                     like_expr.pattern.as_ref()
                 {
-                    if !is_null(&like_expr.expr) && pattern_str == "%" {
-                        Transformed::yes(lit(!like_expr.negated))
-                    } else if !pattern_str.contains(['%', '_'].as_ref()) {
+                    if !pattern_str.contains(['%', '_'].as_ref()) && like_expr.escape_char.is_none() {
                         // If the pattern does not contain any wildcards, we can simplify the like expression to an equality expression
-                        if like_expr.escape_char.is_some() {
-                            // TODO: handle escape characters
-                            // These currently aren't anywhere else in DataFusion
-                            Transformed::no(expr)
-                        } else {
-                            Transformed::yes(Expr::BinaryExpr(BinaryExpr {
-                                left: like_expr.expr.clone(),
-                                op: if like_expr.negated { NotEq } else { Eq },
-                                right: like_expr.pattern.clone(),
-                            }))
-                        }
+                    
+                        // TODO: handle escape characters
+                        // These currently aren't anywhere else in DataFusion
+
+                        Transformed::yes(Expr::BinaryExpr(BinaryExpr {
+                            left: like_expr.expr.clone(),
+                            op: if like_expr.negated { NotEq } else { Eq },
+                            right: like_expr.pattern.clone(),
+                        }))
                     } else {
                         Transformed::no(expr)
                     }