diff --git a/src/vt/termination/termination.impl.h b/src/vt/termination/termination.impl.h
index 2885c44c6d..279bd0350b 100644
--- a/src/vt/termination/termination.impl.h
+++ b/src/vt/termination/termination.impl.h
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ inline EpochType TerminationDetector::popEpoch(EpochType const& epoch) {
   auto const& non_zero = epoch_stack_.size() > 0;
   vtAssertExprInfo(
     non_zero and (epoch_stack_.top() == epoch.get() or epoch == no_epoch),
-    epoch, non_zero, epoch_stack_.top()
+    epoch, non_zero, non_zero ? epoch_stack_.top() : no_epoch
   );
   if (epoch == no_epoch) {
     return non_zero ? epoch_stack_.pop(),EpochType{epoch_stack_.top()} : no_epoch;