diff --git a/judgments/utils/link_generators.py b/judgments/utils/link_generators.py
index a488b021..48038dd5 100644
--- a/judgments/utils/link_generators.py
+++ b/judgments/utils/link_generators.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from caselawclient.models.documents import Document
+    from caselawclient.models.identifiers import Identifier
     from django.http import HttpRequest
 
 
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ def build_jira_create_link(document: Document, request: HttpRequest) -> str:
         reverse("full-text-html", kwargs={"document_uri": document.uri}),
     )
 
-    preferred_ncn = document.identifiers.preferred(type=NeutralCitationNumber)
+    preferred_ncn: Identifier | None = document.identifiers.preferred(type=NeutralCitationNumber)
 
     description_string = "{editor_html_url}".format(
         editor_html_url="""{html_url}