diff --git a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_nir_builtins.c b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_nir_builtins.c
index b7cfebec9aa..fecf4846810 100644
--- a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_nir_builtins.c
+++ b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_nir_builtins.c
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ st_nir_finish_builtin_nir(struct st_context *st, nir_shader *nir)
    if (!screen->caps.nir_images_as_deref)
       NIR_PASS(_, nir, gl_nir_lower_images, false);
 
+   assert(nir->info.stage == MESA_SHADER_COMPUTE || nir->info.io_lowered);
+
    if (nir->info.io_lowered &&
        !(nir->options->io_options & nir_io_has_intrinsics)) {
       NIR_PASS(_, nir, st_nir_unlower_io_to_vars);
diff --git a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_program.c b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_program.c
index 77fac642ed3..3c2f6d49d65 100644
--- a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_program.c
+++ b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_program.c
@@ -853,6 +853,9 @@ st_create_common_variant(struct st_context *st,
                       key->is_draw_shader);
    }
 
+   assert(state.ir.nir->info.stage == MESA_SHADER_COMPUTE ||
+          state.ir.nir->info.io_lowered);
+
    /* This should be after all passes that touch IO. */
    if (state.ir.nir->info.io_lowered &&
        (!(state.ir.nir->options->io_options & nir_io_has_intrinsics) ||
@@ -1245,6 +1248,8 @@ st_create_fp_variant(struct st_context *st,
       finalize = true;
    }
 
+   assert(state.ir.nir->info.io_lowered);
+
    /* This should be after all passes that touch IO. */
    if (state.ir.nir->info.io_lowered &&
        !(state.ir.nir->options->io_options & nir_io_has_intrinsics)) {