diff --git a/target/cheri-common/cheri_utils.h b/target/cheri-common/cheri_utils.h
index f2b944fc01..d49dd0049f 100644
--- a/target/cheri-common/cheri_utils.h
+++ b/target/cheri-common/cheri_utils.h
@@ -196,7 +196,6 @@ static inline bool cap_is_sealed_with_reserved_otype(const cap_register_t *c)
 static inline bool cap_is_in_bounds(const cap_register_t *c, target_ulong addr,
                                     size_t num_bytes)
 {
-    cheri_debug_assert(num_bytes != 0);
 #ifdef TARGET_AARCH64
     // Invalid exponent caps are always considered out of bounds.
     if (!c->cr_bounds_valid)