--- old/src/hotspot/share/classfile/javaClasses.cpp	2018-03-21 16:40:56.151888454 +0100
+++ new/src/hotspot/share/classfile/javaClasses.cpp	2018-03-21 16:40:55.947888461 +0100
@@ -3502,7 +3502,7 @@
 // Support for java_lang_ref_Reference
 
 bool java_lang_ref_Reference::is_referent_field(oop obj, ptrdiff_t offset) {
-  assert(!oopDesc::is_null(obj), "sanity");
+  assert(obj != NULL, "sanity");
   if (offset != java_lang_ref_Reference::referent_offset) {
     return false;
   }