diff --git a/jsf-ri/src/main/java/com/sun/faces/context/flash/ELFlash.java b/jsf-ri/src/main/java/com/sun/faces/context/flash/ELFlash.java
index 175850f6ff..26d4a7f3cc 100644
--- a/jsf-ri/src/main/java/com/sun/faces/context/flash/ELFlash.java
+++ b/jsf-ri/src/main/java/com/sun/faces/context/flash/ELFlash.java
@@ -416,8 +416,9 @@ public Object get(Object key) {
         if (distributable && context.getExternalContext().getSession(false) != null) {
             SessionHelper sessionHelper = 
                     SessionHelper.getInstance(context.getExternalContext());
-            assert(null != sessionHelper);
-            sessionHelper.update(context.getExternalContext(), this);
+            if (sessionHelper != null) {
+              sessionHelper.update(context.getExternalContext(), this);
+            }
         }
 
         if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.FINEST)) {