diff --git a/src/search.cpp b/src/search.cpp
index 6bb1924f..38bd98e0 100644
--- a/src/search.cpp
+++ b/src/search.cpp
@@ -2632,8 +2632,7 @@ namespace {
         // finished their work at this split point, return from the idle loop.
         if (waitSp != NULL && waitSp->cpus == 0)
         {
-            assert(   threads[threadID].state == THREAD_AVAILABLE
-                   || threads[threadID].state == THREAD_SEARCHING);
+            assert(threads[threadID].state == THREAD_AVAILABLE);
 
             threads[threadID].state = THREAD_SEARCHING;
             return;