diff --git a/src/core/meta-clipboard-manager.c b/src/core/meta-clipboard-manager.c
index 8121f26fa1593edfc0d6b9f5309406b0af8bbd62..f9aed93dcc5e7d23f0553e5a965a6490d991d958 100644
--- a/src/core/meta-clipboard-manager.c
+++ b/src/core/meta-clipboard-manager.c
@@ -147,13 +147,11 @@ owner_changed_cb (MetaSelection       *selection,
                                      (GAsyncReadyCallback) transfer_cb,
                                      output);
     }
-  else if (!new_owner && display->saved_clipboard)
+  else if (!new_owner && display->saved_clipboard && display->saved_clipboard_mimetype)
     {
       g_autoptr (GError) error = NULL;
       g_autoptr (MetaSelectionSource) new_source = NULL;
 
-      g_assert (display->saved_clipboard_mimetype != NULL);
-
       /* Old owner is gone, time to take over */
       new_source = meta_selection_source_memory_new (display->saved_clipboard_mimetype,
                                                      display->saved_clipboard,