diff --git a/src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epollex_linux.c b/src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epollex_linux.c
index d353eaf0426..4dbc8b127c1 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epollex_linux.c
+++ b/src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epollex_linux.c
@@ -974,9 +974,6 @@ static void pg_create(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx, polling_obj **initial_po,
   polling_group *pg = gpr_malloc(sizeof(*pg));
   po_init(&pg->po, PO_POLLING_GROUP);
   gpr_ref_init(&pg->refs, (int)initial_po_count);
-  GPR_ASSERT(initial_po[0]->group == NULL);
-  initial_po[0]->next = initial_po[0]->prev = initial_po[0];
-  initial_po[0]->group = pg;
   for (size_t i = 0; i < initial_po_count; i++) {
     GPR_ASSERT(initial_po[i]->group == NULL);
     initial_po[i]->group = pg;