diff --git a/src/core/exec-invoke.c b/src/core/exec-invoke.c
index c6ef2953c8..02d6af29f8 100644
--- a/src/core/exec-invoke.c
+++ b/src/core/exec-invoke.c
@@ -3914,8 +3914,14 @@ int exec_invoke(
         assert(exit_status);
 
         /* Explicitly test for CVE-2021-4034 inspired invocations */
-        assert(command->path);
-        assert(!strv_isempty(command->argv));
+        if (!command->path || strv_isempty(command->argv)) {
+                *exit_status = EXIT_EXEC;
+                return log_exec_error_errno(
+                                context,
+                                params,
+                                SYNTHETIC_ERRNO(EINVAL),
+                                "Invalid command line arguments.");
+        }
 
         LOG_CONTEXT_PUSH_EXEC(context, params);