diff --git a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/AbstractXMPPConnection.java b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/AbstractXMPPConnection.java
index 08e0a89d5..caad497b2 100644
--- a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/AbstractXMPPConnection.java
+++ b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/AbstractXMPPConnection.java
@@ -905,6 +905,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractXMPPConnection implements XMPPConnection {
      * @param packet the packet to process.
      */
     protected void processPacket(Packet packet) {
+        assert(packet != null);
         lastStanzaReceived = System.currentTimeMillis();
         // Deliver the incoming packet to listeners.
         executorService.submit(new ListenerNotification(packet));
diff --git a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketCollector.java b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketCollector.java
index 7c7422961..ba78224ea 100644
--- a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketCollector.java
+++ b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketCollector.java
@@ -225,10 +225,6 @@ public class PacketCollector {
      * @param packet the packet to process.
      */
     protected void processPacket(Packet packet) {
-        if (packet == null) {
-            return;
-        }
-        
         if (packetFilter == null || packetFilter.accept(packet)) {
         	while (!resultQueue.offer(packet)) {
         		// Since we know the queue is full, this poll should never actually block.