diff --git a/libs/backends/coreaudio/coreaudio_backend.cc b/libs/backends/coreaudio/coreaudio_backend.cc
index da74dcc2ef..9273cd127a 100644
--- a/libs/backends/coreaudio/coreaudio_backend.cc
+++ b/libs/backends/coreaudio/coreaudio_backend.cc
@@ -1255,7 +1255,6 @@ CoreAudioBackend::get_buffer (PortEngine::PortHandle port_handle, pframes_t nfra
 {
 	boost::shared_ptr<BackendPort> port = boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<BackendPort> (port_handle);
 	assert (port);
-	if (!port || !valid_port (port)) return NULL; // XXX remove me
 	return port->get_buffer (nframes);
 }
 
diff --git a/libs/backends/portaudio/portaudio_backend.cc b/libs/backends/portaudio/portaudio_backend.cc
index 5b3fc46bf4..f0d2f5e158 100644
--- a/libs/backends/portaudio/portaudio_backend.cc
+++ b/libs/backends/portaudio/portaudio_backend.cc
@@ -1446,7 +1446,6 @@ PortAudioBackend::get_buffer (PortEngine::PortHandle port_handle, pframes_t nfra
 {
 	boost::shared_ptr<BackendPort> port = boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<BackendPort>(port_handle);
 	assert (port);
-	if (!port || !valid_port (port)) return NULL; // XXX remove me
 	return port->get_buffer (nframes);
 }
 
diff --git a/libs/backends/pulseaudio/pulseaudio_backend.cc b/libs/backends/pulseaudio/pulseaudio_backend.cc
index 8c4f08d224..92781e623e 100644
--- a/libs/backends/pulseaudio/pulseaudio_backend.cc
+++ b/libs/backends/pulseaudio/pulseaudio_backend.cc
@@ -979,9 +979,7 @@ void*
 PulseAudioBackend::get_buffer (PortEngine::PortHandle port_handle, pframes_t nframes)
 {
 	BackendPortPtr port = boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<BackendPort> (port_handle);
-
 	assert (port);
-
 	return port->get_buffer (nframes);
 }