diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Misc.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Misc.pm
index 41ab2b809..e43cde0bd 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Misc.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Misc.pm
@@ -403,8 +403,6 @@ sub convert_blacklist() {
 
 	my $fn = open_file 'blacklist';
 
-	assert $fn;
-
 	first_entry "Converting $fn...";
 
 	while ( read_a_line ) {