diff --git a/modules/infra/control/nexthop.c b/modules/infra/control/nexthop.c
index cca93206..2ed9c9b0 100644
--- a/modules/infra/control/nexthop.c
+++ b/modules/infra/control/nexthop.c
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ static void nh_pool_iter_cb(struct rte_mempool *, void *priv, void *obj, unsigne
 	if (nh->ref_count != 0)
 		it->user_cb(nh, it->priv);
 	else
-		assert(rte_ipv6_addr_is_unspec(&nh->ipv6));
+		assert(rte_lcore_has_role(rte_lcore_id(), ROLE_NON_EAL)
+		       || rte_ipv6_addr_is_unspec(&nh->ipv6));
 }
 
 void nh_pool_iter(struct nh_pool *nhp, nh_iter_cb_t nh_cb, void *priv) {