diff --git a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/blob/Heap.java b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/blob/Heap.java
index d16c252ef..cd8b3eea5 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/blob/Heap.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/blob/Heap.java
@@ -166,7 +166,6 @@ public final class Heap extends HeapModifier implements BLOB {
      * @throws SpaceExceededException 
      */
     public void flushBuffer() throws IOException {
-        assert this.buffer != null;
         if (this.buffer == null) return;
         
         // check size of buffer
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/peers/NewsDB.java b/source/net/yacy/peers/NewsDB.java
index cef2912a4..f6926d512 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/peers/NewsDB.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/peers/NewsDB.java
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ public class NewsDB {
     }
 
     public synchronized Record get(final String id) throws IOException {
+        if (this.news == null) return null;
         try {
             return b2r(this.news.get(UTF8.getBytes(id), false));
         } catch (final kelondroException e) {