diff --git a/src/xrep.cpp b/src/xrep.cpp
index 2d538db9..a9e2cc9e 100644
--- a/src/xrep.cpp
+++ b/src/xrep.cpp
@@ -101,13 +101,6 @@ void zmq::xrep_t::terminated (reader_t *pipe_)
     for (inpipes_t::iterator it = inpipes.begin (); it != inpipes.end ();
           it++) {
         if (it->reader == pipe_) {
-            if (inpipes [current_in].reader == pipe_) {
-
-                //  A reader is not allowed to terminate in the middle of a
-                //  multipart message.
-                zmq_assert (!prefetched);
-                zmq_assert (!more_in);
-            }
             inpipes.erase (it);
             if (terminating)
                 unregister_term_ack ();