diff --git a/Modules/itertoolsmodule.c b/Modules/itertoolsmodule.c
index bd5543c..62b2c19 100644
--- a/Modules/itertoolsmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/itertoolsmodule.c
@@ -1919,7 +1919,7 @@
 			Py_DECREF(old_result);
 		}
 		/* Now, we've got the only copy so we can update it in-place */
-		assert (Py_REFCNT(result) == 1);
+		assert (npools==0 || Py_REFCNT(result) == 1);
 
                 /* Update the pool indices right-to-left.  Only advance to the
                    next pool when the previous one rolls-over */