diff --git a/modules/ssl/ssl_util.c b/modules/ssl/ssl_util.c
index e8a08cff05..3a88493750 100644
--- a/modules/ssl/ssl_util.c
+++ b/modules/ssl/ssl_util.c
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ BOOL ssl_util_path_check(ssl_pathcheck_t pcm, const char *path, apr_pool_t *p)
     if (pcm & SSL_PCM_EXISTS && apr_stat(&finfo, path,
                                 APR_FINFO_TYPE|APR_FINFO_SIZE, p) != 0)
         return FALSE;
+    AP_DEBUG_ASSERT((pcm & SSL_PCM_EXISTS) ||
+                    !(pcm & (SSL_PCM_ISREG|SSL_PCM_ISDIR|SSL_PCM_ISNONZERO)));
     if (pcm & SSL_PCM_ISREG && finfo.filetype != APR_REG)
         return FALSE;
     if (pcm & SSL_PCM_ISDIR && finfo.filetype != APR_DIR)