diff --git a/src/sysupdate/sysupdate-pattern.c b/src/sysupdate/sysupdate-pattern.c
index 58aa524a5d..e1cc3dc466 100644
--- a/src/sysupdate/sysupdate-pattern.c
+++ b/src/sysupdate/sysupdate-pattern.c
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ int pattern_match(const char *pattern, const char *s, InstanceMetadata *ret) {
                 }
 
                 default:
-                        assert_se("unexpected pattern element");
+                        assert_not_reached();
                 }
 
                 p = n;