diff --git a/xml/dom-impl/src/com/intellij/util/xml/highlighting/DomElementProblemDescriptorImpl.java b/xml/dom-impl/src/com/intellij/util/xml/highlighting/DomElementProblemDescriptorImpl.java
index 479ccd79ef66..9dd85e823946 100644
--- a/xml/dom-impl/src/com/intellij/util/xml/highlighting/DomElementProblemDescriptorImpl.java
+++ b/xml/dom-impl/src/com/intellij/util/xml/highlighting/DomElementProblemDescriptorImpl.java
@@ -137,7 +137,10 @@ public class DomElementProblemDescriptorImpl implements DomElementProblemDescrip
     if (myPair == null) {
       myPair = computeProblemRange();
     }
-    assert myPair.second.isValid();
+    PsiElement element = myPair.second;
+    if (element != null) {
+      assert element.isValid();
+    }
     return myPair;
   }