diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 673899d39..5006a62e7 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 Release 3.4.0 (in development)
 ==============================
-
 Dependencies
 ------------
 
@@ -98,6 +97,8 @@ Features added
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
+* #8522: ``__bool__`` method isn't called now by autodoc module, so it won't lead to
+side effect or direct failure in case it generate an error.
 
 Testing
 --------
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/autodoc/__init__.py b/sphinx/ext/autodoc/__init__.py
index ea2818800..b663e4d04 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/autodoc/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/autodoc/__init__.py
@@ -716,7 +716,7 @@ class Documenter:
                 isprivate = membername.startswith('_')
 
             keep = False
-            if safe_getattr(member, '__sphinx_mock__', False):
+            if safe_getattr(member, '__sphinx_mock__', None) is not None:
                 # mocked module or object
                 pass
             elif self.options.exclude_members and membername in self.options.exclude_members: