diff --git a/bgpd/bgp_packet.c b/bgpd/bgp_packet.c
index ca211589f7..0800dd74ba 100644
--- a/bgpd/bgp_packet.c
+++ b/bgpd/bgp_packet.c
@@ -603,8 +603,6 @@ bgp_notify_send_with_data (struct peer *peer, u_char code, u_char sub_code,
   struct stream *s;
   int length;
 
-  assert (data);
-
   /* Allocate new stream. */
   s = stream_new (BGP_MAX_PACKET_SIZE);
 
@@ -616,7 +614,8 @@ bgp_notify_send_with_data (struct peer *peer, u_char code, u_char sub_code,
   stream_putc (s, sub_code);	/* BGP notify sub_code */
 
   /* If notify data is present. */
-  stream_write (s, data, datalen);
+  if (data)
+    stream_write (s, data, datalen);
   
   /* Set BGP packet length. */
   length = bgp_packet_set_size (s);