diff --git a/yt_dlp/utils/traversal.py b/yt_dlp/utils/traversal.py
index 76b51f53d1..ce2ed186b5 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/utils/traversal.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/utils/traversal.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import collections
 import collections.abc
 import contextlib
+import dataclasses
 import functools
 import http.cookies
 import inspect
@@ -233,6 +234,8 @@ def apply_specials(element):
                 result = list(map(apply_specials, obj.iterfind(xpath)))
             else:
                 result = apply_specials(obj)
+        elif dataclasses.is_dataclass(obj):
+            result = getattr(obj, key)
 
         return branching, result if branching else (result,)