diff --git a/plugin/monitoring/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/exporter/http/HttpExportBulk.java b/plugin/monitoring/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/exporter/http/HttpExportBulk.java
index ff9d9b786ba..5fea82bd001 100644
--- a/plugin/monitoring/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/exporter/http/HttpExportBulk.java
+++ b/plugin/monitoring/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/exporter/http/HttpExportBulk.java
@@ -123,8 +123,6 @@ class HttpExportBulk extends ExportBulk {
 
     @Override
     protected void doClose(ActionListener<Void> listener) {
-        // nothing serious to do at this stage
-        assert payload == null;
         listener.onResponse(null);
     }