diff --git a/accel/tcg/tcg-accel-ops-mttcg.c b/accel/tcg/tcg-accel-ops-mttcg.c
index b276262007..4b0dfb4be7 100644
--- a/accel/tcg/tcg-accel-ops-mttcg.c
+++ b/accel/tcg/tcg-accel-ops-mttcg.c
@@ -100,14 +100,9 @@ static void *mttcg_cpu_thread_fn(void *arg)
                 break;
             case EXCP_HALTED:
                 /*
-                 * during start-up the vCPU is reset and the thread is
-                 * kicked several times. If we don't ensure we go back
-                 * to sleep in the halted state we won't cleanly
-                 * start-up when the vCPU is enabled.
-                 *
-                 * cpu->halted should ensure we sleep in wait_io_event
+                 * Usually cpu->halted is set, but may have already been
+                 * reset by another thread by the time we arrive here.
                  */
-                g_assert(cpu->halted);
                 break;
             case EXCP_ATOMIC:
                 qemu_mutex_unlock_iothread();