diff --git a/xml/dom-impl/src/com/intellij/util/xml/impl/DomImplUtil.java b/xml/dom-impl/src/com/intellij/util/xml/impl/DomImplUtil.java
index dbfd78421471..a5e38a39b6c4 100644
--- a/xml/dom-impl/src/com/intellij/util/xml/impl/DomImplUtil.java
+++ b/xml/dom-impl/src/com/intellij/util/xml/impl/DomImplUtil.java
@@ -299,7 +299,6 @@ public class DomImplUtil {
     }
     assert handler != null;
     XmlTag tag = handler.getXmlTag();
-    assert tag != null;
     while (true) {
       final PsiElement parentTag = PhysicalDomParentStrategy.getParentTagCandidate(tag);
       if (!(parentTag instanceof XmlTag)) {