diff --git a/bfps/cpp/particles/particles_input_hdf5.hpp b/bfps/cpp/particles/particles_input_hdf5.hpp
index c093cd85209dff4f2290f1353d3857221697b41c..20239f062e93183a23542bc06407a2f637ffbe67 100644
--- a/bfps/cpp/particles/particles_input_hdf5.hpp
+++ b/bfps/cpp/particles/particles_input_hdf5.hpp
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ public:
     }
 
     std::unique_ptr<partsize_t[]> getMyParticlesIndexes() final {
-        assert(my_particles_indexes != nullptr);
+        assert(my_particles_indexes != nullptr || nb_particles_for_me == 0);
         return std::move(my_particles_indexes);
     }
 };