diff --git a/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c b/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c
index d3b2183cbd..00e6eb96e9 100644
--- a/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c
+++ b/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c
@@ -2432,9 +2432,7 @@ static int specifier_expansion_from_arg(Item *i) {
 
         case SET_XATTR:
         case RECURSIVE_SET_XATTR:
-                assert(i->xattrs);
-
-                STRV_FOREACH (xattr, i->xattrs) {
+                STRV_FOREACH(xattr, i->xattrs) {
                         r = specifier_printf(*xattr, specifier_table, NULL, &resolved);
                         if (r < 0)
                                 return r;