diff --git a/compiler/il/OMRTreeTop_inlines.hpp b/compiler/il/OMRTreeTop_inlines.hpp
index d5965402b2b..822608b60ab 100644
--- a/compiler/il/OMRTreeTop_inlines.hpp
+++ b/compiler/il/OMRTreeTop_inlines.hpp
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ OMR::TreeTop::unlink(bool decRefCountRecursively)
 inline void
 OMR::TreeTop::join(TR::TreeTop * p)
    {
-   if (self())
-      self()->setNextTreeTop(p);
+   self()->setNextTreeTop(p);
+   
    if (p)
       p->setPrevTreeTop(self());
    }