diff --git a/src/compiler/nir/nir_algebraic.py b/src/compiler/nir/nir_algebraic.py
index d8d0a95a6d3..e13872869a5 100644
--- a/src/compiler/nir/nir_algebraic.py
+++ b/src/compiler/nir/nir_algebraic.py
@@ -301,8 +301,8 @@ class Variable(Value):
       # constant.  If we want to support names that have numeric or
       # punctuation characters, we can me the first assertion more flexible.
       assert self.var_name.isalpha()
-      assert self.var_name is not 'True'
-      assert self.var_name is not 'False'
+      assert self.var_name != 'True'
+      assert self.var_name != 'False'
 
       self.is_constant = m.group('const') is not None
       self.cond = m.group('cond')