diff -r e5b53c306fb5 -r 2b2b8833c422 hotspot/src/share/vm/classfile/javaClasses.cpp
--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/classfile/javaClasses.cpp	Tue Oct 09 10:09:34 2012 -0700
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/classfile/javaClasses.cpp	Wed Oct 10 17:04:33 2012 -0400
@@ -413,8 +413,7 @@
 }
 
 bool java_lang_String::equals(oop java_string, jchar* chars, int len) {
-  assert(SharedSkipVerify ||
-         java_string->klass() == SystemDictionary::String_klass(),
+  assert(java_string->klass() == SystemDictionary::String_klass(),
          "must be java_string");
   typeArrayOop value  = java_lang_String::value(java_string);
   int          offset = java_lang_String::offset(java_string);