diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 39ddea3411..a0346c80c6 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -1851,7 +1851,7 @@ static BlockDriverState *bdrv_open_inherit(const char *filename,
     bdrv_refresh_filename(bs);
 
     /* Check if any unknown options were used */
-    if (options && (qdict_size(options) != 0)) {
+    if (qdict_size(options) != 0) {
         const QDictEntry *entry = qdict_first(options);
         if (flags & BDRV_O_PROTOCOL) {
             error_setg(errp, "Block protocol '%s' doesn't support the option "