diff --git a/artiq/frontend/artiq_gui.py b/artiq/frontend/artiq_gui.py
index 6b475a0a7..f2dcaaf86 100755
--- a/artiq/frontend/artiq_gui.py
+++ b/artiq/frontend/artiq_gui.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import os
 
 import PyQt5
 from quamash import QEventLoop, QtGui, QtCore, QtWidgets
-assert QtGui is PyQt5.QtGui
 
 from artiq import __artiq_dir__ as artiq_dir
 from artiq.tools import *