diff --git a/src/libei-socket.c b/src/libei-socket.c
index 2cf2db6..4fb5c86 100644
--- a/src/libei-socket.c
+++ b/src/libei-socket.c
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ ei_setup_backend_socket(struct ei *ei, const char *socketpath)
 	if (!socketpath)
 		socketpath = getenv("LIBEI_SOCKET");
 
-	assert(socketpath);
-	assert(socketpath[0] != '\0');
+	if (!socketpath || socketpath[0] == '\0')
+		return -ENOENT;
 
 	_cleanup_free_ char *path = NULL;
 	if (socketpath[0] == '/') {