diff --git a/libavcodec/dv.c b/libavcodec/dv.c
index 2d5aa6cd8e11333af743a6166a133d47aac52f8c..f132217ee52a716da090b626df8e903a5618f8ad 100644
--- a/libavcodec/dv.c
+++ b/libavcodec/dv.c
@@ -342,7 +342,6 @@ static void dv_decode_ac(GetBitContext *gb, BlockInfo *mb, DCTELEM *block)
         if (pos >= 64)
             break;
 
-        assert(level);
         pos1 = scan_table[pos];
         block[pos1] = level << shift_table[pos1];