diff --git a/src/client/Client.cc b/src/client/Client.cc
index 6b34e4a330e43..db113f1806364 100644
--- a/src/client/Client.cc
+++ b/src/client/Client.cc
@@ -12900,6 +12900,7 @@ void Client::ms_handle_remote_reset(Connection *con)
 	}
       }
       if (mds >= 0) {
+	assert (s != NULL);
 	switch (s->state) {
 	case MetaSession::STATE_CLOSING:
 	  ldout(cct, 1) << "reset from mds we were closing; we'll call that closed" << dendl;