diff --git a/src/share/vm/runtime/compilationPolicy.cpp b/src/share/vm/runtime/compilationPolicy.cpp
index cec42ae919583462449cf0762730e5419b5d7d62..3d670d6a2978a1b5de2a14b5704600952f6e7cc8 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/runtime/compilationPolicy.cpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/runtime/compilationPolicy.cpp
@@ -297,9 +297,10 @@ void NonTieredCompPolicy::reprofile(ScopeDesc* trap_scope, bool is_osr) {
 // that it's recommended to delay the complation of this method.
 void NonTieredCompPolicy::delay_compilation(Method* method) {
   MethodCounters* mcs = method->method_counters();
-  assert(mcs != NULL, "MethodCounters cannot be NULL");
-  mcs->invocation_counter()->decay();
-  mcs->backedge_counter()->decay();
+  if (mcs != NULL) {
+    mcs->invocation_counter()->decay();
+    mcs->backedge_counter()->decay();
+  }
 }
 
 void NonTieredCompPolicy::disable_compilation(Method* method) {