diff --git a/src/string.cpp b/src/string.cpp
index f01786a973..52dfc260c6 100644
--- a/src/string.cpp
+++ b/src/string.cpp
@@ -118,7 +118,6 @@ void str_validate(char *str, bool allow_newlines, bool ignore)
 				str += len;
 				continue;
 			}
-			assert(c != '\r');
 			/* Replace the undesirable character with a question mark */
 			str += len;
 			if (!ignore) *dst++ = '?';