diff --git a/test/lib/bdev/bdevio/bdevio.c b/test/lib/bdev/bdevio/bdevio.c
index cb8a22271..75cb6e66a 100644
--- a/test/lib/bdev/bdevio/bdevio.c
+++ b/test/lib/bdev/bdevio/bdevio.c
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ __get_io_channel(void *arg1, void *arg2)
 	struct io_target *target = arg1;
 
 	target->ch = spdk_bdev_get_io_channel(target->bdev_desc);
+	assert(target->ch);
 	wake_ut_thread();
 }