diff --git a/gold/arm.cc b/gold/arm.cc
index 560f380..4588b94 100644
--- a/gold/arm.cc
+++ b/gold/arm.cc
@@ -6729,9 +6729,9 @@ Arm_relobj<big_endian>::do_read_symbols(Read_symbols_data* sd)
 	// be conservative.
 	must_merge_flags_and_attributes = true;
 
-      if (shdr.get_sh_type() == elfcpp::SHT_ARM_ATTRIBUTES)
+      if ((shdr.get_sh_type() == elfcpp::SHT_ARM_ATTRIBUTES)
+	  && (this->attributes_section_data_ == NULL))
 	{
-	  gold_assert(this->attributes_section_data_ == NULL);
 	  section_offset_type section_offset = shdr.get_sh_offset();
 	  section_size_type section_size =
 	    convert_to_section_size_type(shdr.get_sh_size());