--- jsr166/src/jsr166y/LinkedTransferQueue.java	2009/10/27 23:14:08	1.54
+++ jsr166/src/jsr166y/LinkedTransferQueue.java	2009/10/27 23:59:38	1.55
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ public class LinkedTransferQueue<E> exte
         }
 
         final boolean casItem(Object cmp, Object val) {
-            assert cmp.getClass() != Node.class;
+            assert cmp == null || cmp.getClass() != Node.class;
             return UNSAFE.compareAndSwapObject(this, itemOffset, cmp, val);
         }