diff --git a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/impl/local/LocalFileSystemBase.java b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/impl/local/LocalFileSystemBase.java
index d11963de9cd5..eb6bae52939c 100644
--- a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/impl/local/LocalFileSystemBase.java
+++ b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/impl/local/LocalFileSystemBase.java
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ public abstract class LocalFileSystemBase extends LocalFileSystem {
     final FileInputStream stream = new FileInputStream(convertToIOFileAndCheck(file));
     try {
       final int length = (int)file.getLength();
-      assert length >= 0 : file;
+      if (length < 0) throw new IOException("Invalid file length: " + length + ", " + file);
       return FileUtil.loadBytes(stream, length);
     }
     finally {