diff --git a/hw/qxl.c b/hw/qxl.c
index 7b88a1e..ea92f83 100644
--- a/hw/qxl.c
+++ b/hw/qxl.c
@@ -1739,7 +1739,6 @@ static void qxl_send_events(PCIQXLDevice *d, uint32_t events)
     uint32_t le_events = cpu_to_le32(events);
 
     trace_qxl_send_events(d->id, events);
-    assert(qemu_spice_display_is_running(&d->ssd));
     old_pending = __sync_fetch_and_or(&d->ram->int_pending, le_events);
     if ((old_pending & le_events) == le_events) {
         return;