diff --git a/utils/common/conststring.h b/utils/common/conststring.h
index 6813cee0a..021529bf5 100644
--- a/utils/common/conststring.h
+++ b/utils/common/conststring.h
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ class ConstString
  public:
   ConstString(const char* str, size_t length) : mStr(str), mLength(length)
   {
-    idbassert(mStr || mLength == 0);  // nullptr mStr should have zero length.
+    if (!mStr)
+      mLength = 0;
   }
   explicit ConstString(const std::string& str) : mStr(str.data()), mLength(str.length())
   {