diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
index c91f3fbf7..1f58977a5 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
@@ -478,8 +478,7 @@ static void canonicalisePathMetaData_(const Path & path, uid_t fromUid, InodesSe
        ensure that we don't fail on hard links within the same build
        (i.e. "touch $out/foo; ln $out/foo $out/bar"). */
     if (fromUid != (uid_t) -1 && st.st_uid != fromUid) {
-        assert(!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode));
-        if (inodesSeen.find(Inode(st.st_dev, st.st_ino)) == inodesSeen.end())
+        if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) || !inodesSeen.count(Inode(st.st_dev, st.st_ino)))
             throw BuildError("invalid ownership on file '%1%'", path);
         mode_t mode = st.st_mode & ~S_IFMT;
         assert(S_ISLNK(st.st_mode) || (st.st_uid == geteuid() && (mode == 0444 || mode == 0555) && st.st_mtime == mtimeStore));