diff --git a/impl/src/main/java/com/sun/faces/context/flash/ELFlash.java b/impl/src/main/java/com/sun/faces/context/flash/ELFlash.java
index e82aee0825..ee9a2cd657 100644
--- a/impl/src/main/java/com/sun/faces/context/flash/ELFlash.java
+++ b/impl/src/main/java/com/sun/faces/context/flash/ELFlash.java
@@ -392,8 +392,9 @@ 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)) {