diff --git a/src/basic/xattr-util.c b/src/basic/xattr-util.c
index deacc1025a6..9256bd4b1a4 100644
--- a/src/basic/xattr-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/xattr-util.c
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ static ssize_t getxattr_pinned_internal(
         if (n < 0)
                 return -errno;
 
-        assert((size_t) n <= size);
+        assert(size == 0 || (size_t) n <= size);
         return n;
 }
 
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ static int listxattr_pinned_internal(
         if (n < 0)
                 return -errno;
 
-        assert((size_t) n <= size);
+        assert(size == 0 || (size_t) n <= size);
 
         if (n > INT_MAX) /* We couldn't return this as 'int' anymore */
                 return -E2BIG;