diff a/src/hotspot/share/utilities/hashtable.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/utilities/hashtable.cpp
--- a/src/hotspot/share/utilities/hashtable.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/utilities/hashtable.cpp
@@ -99,14 +99,12 @@
   entry->set_next(NULL);
   return entry;
 }
 
 template <MEMFLAGS F> void BasicHashtable<F>::free_buckets() {
-  if (NULL != _buckets) {
-    FREE_C_HEAP_ARRAY(HashtableBucket, _buckets);
-    _buckets = NULL;
-  }
+  FREE_C_HEAP_ARRAY(HashtableBucket, _buckets);
+  _buckets = NULL;
 }
 
 // For oops and Strings the size of the literal is interesting. For other types, nobody cares.
 static int literal_size(ConstantPool*) { return 0; }
 static int literal_size(Klass*)        { return 0; }