diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
index 793bc0b6aef0db..333847f0fafb96 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ pysqlite_connection_init_impl(pysqlite_Connection *self,
     // There are no statements or other SQLite objects attached to the
     // database, so sqlite3_close() should always return SQLITE_OK.
     rc = sqlite3_close(db);
-    assert(rc == SQLITE_OK), rc;
+    assert(rc == SQLITE_OK);
     return -1;
 }