<?php function deepFind($o, $key) { $key = explode('->', $key); $value = $o; foreach ($key as $i=>$k) { if (is_object($value) && isset($value->{$k})) { $value = $value->{$k}; } elseif (is_array($value) && isset($value[$k])) { $value = $value[$k]; } elseif ($i == count($key) - 1) { $value = null; } } return $value; } // test $o = (object)[ "extra_info" => (object)[ "status" => "AlreadyVerified" ] ]; echo deepFind($o, 'extra_info->status');