diff --git a/src/share/vm/opto/compile.cpp b/src/share/vm/opto/compile.cpp
index 1832c63b33e40dd072a22e1a2c101b2b2ff93fa2..de05e5fb84a94e141ea73fb55fa7dd7abcea41b4 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/opto/compile.cpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/opto/compile.cpp
@@ -2192,7 +2192,9 @@ static void final_graph_reshaping_impl( Node *n, Final_Reshape_Counts &fpu ) {
 
   case Op_DecodeN:
     assert(!n->in(1)->is_EncodeP(), "should be optimized out");
-    assert(n->in(0) == NULL, "no control");
+    // DecodeN could be pinned on Sparc where it can't be fold into
+    // an address expression, see the code for Op_CastPP above.
+    assert(n->in(0) == NULL || !Matcher::clone_shift_expressions, "no control except on sparc");
     break;
 
   case Op_EncodeP: {