diff --git a/src/hb-serialize.hh b/src/hb-serialize.hh
index 5eb27f0c7..0bd9f035c 100644
--- a/src/hb-serialize.hh
+++ b/src/hb-serialize.hh
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ struct hb_serialize_context_t
   {
     static_assert (sizeof (T) == 2 || sizeof (T) == 4, "");
 
-    if (unlikely (!objidx))
+    if (!objidx)
       return;
 
     assert (current.length);