diff --git a/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp b/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
index dabc760798..0331305cb2 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ void GameState::Reset()
 		else
 			m_pCurCharacters[p] = GetDefaultCharacter();
 	}
+	ASSERT( m_pCurCharacters[p] );
 
 	for( p=0; p<NUM_PLAYERS; p++ )
 	{