--- a/test/hotspot/jtreg/compiler/tiered/LevelTransitionTest.java	Thu Aug 02 09:27:40 2018 -0700
+++ b/test/hotspot/jtreg/compiler/tiered/LevelTransitionTest.java	Thu Aug 02 14:40:55 2018 -0700
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 
 import compiler.whitebox.CompilerWhiteBoxTest;
 import compiler.whitebox.SimpleTestCase;
+import jtreg.SkippedException;
 
 import java.lang.reflect.Executable;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
@@ -57,7 +58,9 @@
     private int transitionCount;
 
     public static void main(String[] args) throws Throwable {
-        assert (!CompilerWhiteBoxTest.skipOnTieredCompilation(false));
+        if (CompilerWhiteBoxTest.skipOnTieredCompilation(false)) {
+            throw new SkippedException("Test isn't applicable for non-tiered mode");
+        }
 
         CompilerWhiteBoxTest.main(LevelTransitionTest::new, args);
         // run extended test cases