diff --git a/server/modules/routing/readwritesplit/rwsplit_route_stmt.cc b/server/modules/routing/readwritesplit/rwsplit_route_stmt.cc
index 4c586750e..51048c650 100644
--- a/server/modules/routing/readwritesplit/rwsplit_route_stmt.cc
+++ b/server/modules/routing/readwritesplit/rwsplit_route_stmt.cc
@@ -853,7 +853,7 @@ SRWBackend RWSplitSession::handle_slave_is_target(uint8_t cmd, uint32_t stmt_id)
     if (target)
     {
         atomic_add_uint64(&m_router->stats().n_slave, 1);
-        ss_dassert(target->in_use());
+        ss_dassert(target->in_use() || target->can_connect());
     }
     else
     {