diff --git a/src/hb-ot-layout.cc b/src/hb-ot-layout.cc
index 41110044c8213a75d0476446a6531ee8a7c53c70..275a960d586a255ee81211f6f7ef2ea7863a2134 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-layout.cc
+++ b/src/hb-ot-layout.cc
@@ -954,7 +954,7 @@ apply_string (OT::hb_apply_context_t *c,
 {
   hb_buffer_t *buffer = c->buffer;
 
-  if (unlikely (buffer->in_error || !buffer->len || !c->lookup_mask))
+  if (unlikely (!buffer->len || !c->lookup_mask))
     return;
 
   c->set_lookup_props (lookup.get_props ());