--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/perfData.cpp	Fri Aug 31 16:39:35 2012 -0700
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/perfData.cpp	Sat Sep 01 13:25:18 2012 -0400
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2001, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2001, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -213,7 +213,10 @@
 
 void PerfLongVariant::sample() {
 
-  assert(_sample_helper != NULL || _sampled != NULL, "unexpected state");
+  // JJJ - This should not happen.  Maybe the first sample is taken
+  // while the _sample_helper is being null'ed out.
+  // assert(_sample_helper != NULL || _sampled != NULL, "unexpected state");
+  if (_sample_helper == NULL) return;
 
   if (_sample_helper != NULL) {
     *(jlong*)_valuep = _sample_helper->take_sample();