diff --git a/lib/assoc_array.c b/lib/assoc_array.c
index 03dd576e67730fb2870c44512f55c1c0c39b77f3..59fd7c0b119cbc3e0b61137732f76cc3759fb7c7 100644
--- a/lib/assoc_array.c
+++ b/lib/assoc_array.c
@@ -524,7 +524,9 @@ static bool assoc_array_insert_into_terminal_node(struct assoc_array_edit *edit,
 			free_slot = i;
 			continue;
 		}
-		if (ops->compare_object(assoc_array_ptr_to_leaf(ptr), index_key)) {
+		if (assoc_array_ptr_is_leaf(ptr) &&
+		    ops->compare_object(assoc_array_ptr_to_leaf(ptr),
+					index_key)) {
 			pr_devel("replace in slot %d\n", i);
 			edit->leaf_p = &node->slots[i];
 			edit->dead_leaf = node->slots[i];