diff --git a/src/rocm_smi.cc b/src/rocm_smi.cc
index 4851e8e398..f06ecfac0b 100755
--- a/src/rocm_smi.cc
+++ b/src/rocm_smi.cc
@@ -682,6 +682,7 @@ rsmi_dev_ecc_count_get(uint32_t dv_ind, rsmi_gpu_block_t block,
   DEVICE_MUTEX
 
   ret = GetDevValueVec(type, dv_ind, &val_vec);
+  if (val_vec.size() != 2 ) ret = RSMI_STATUS_FILE_ERROR;
 
   if (ret == RSMI_STATUS_FILE_ERROR) {
     ss << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << " | ======= end ======="
@@ -698,8 +699,6 @@ rsmi_dev_ecc_count_get(uint32_t dv_ind, rsmi_gpu_block_t block,
     return ret;
   }
 
-  assert(val_vec.size() == 2);
-
   std::string junk;
   std::istringstream fs1(val_vec[0]);