diff --git a/src/shared/ptyfwd.c b/src/shared/ptyfwd.c
index f910f3aaf9..bf775425e7 100644
--- a/src/shared/ptyfwd.c
+++ b/src/shared/ptyfwd.c
@@ -270,7 +270,9 @@ static int insert_newline_color_erase(PTYForward *f, size_t offset) {
         _cleanup_free_ char *s = NULL;
 
         assert(f);
-        assert(f->background_color);
+
+        if (!f->background_color)
+                return 0;
 
         /* When we see a newline (ASCII 10) then this sets the background color to the desired one, and erase the rest
          * of the line with it */
@@ -289,7 +291,9 @@ static int insert_carriage_return_color(PTYForward *f, size_t offset) {
         _cleanup_free_ char *s = NULL;
 
         assert(f);
-        assert(f->background_color);
+
+        if (!f->background_color)
+                return 0;
 
         /* When we see a carriage return (ASCII 13) this this sets only the background */