diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileStatus.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileStatus.java
index 0663c43d18..83910c46c1 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileStatus.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileStatus.java
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ public void readFields(DataInput in) throws IOException {
     setPath(other.getPath());
     attr = attributes(other.hasAcl(), other.isEncrypted(),
         other.isErasureCoded(), other.isSnapshotEnabled());
-    assert (isDirectory() && getSymlink() == null) || !isDirectory();
+    assert !(isDirectory() && isSymlink()) : "A directory cannot be a symlink";
   }
 
   /**