diff --git a/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp b/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
index a899406dc2..1d543b4ed5 100644
--- a/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ void MyAvatar::updateFromHMDSensorMatrix(const glm::mat4& hmdSensorMatrix) {
 
 void MyAvatar::updateJointFromController(glm::mat4& previousSensorToWorldInverseMatrix, controller::Action poseKey,
                                          ThreadSafeValueCache<glm::mat4>& matrixCache) {
-    if (QThread::currentThread() != thread()) { abort(); } // XXX
+    assert(QThread::currentThread() == thread());
     auto userInputMapper = DependencyManager::get<UserInputMapper>();
     controller::Pose controllerPose = userInputMapper->getPoseState(poseKey);
     Transform transform;
diff --git a/libraries/controllers/src/controllers/UserInputMapper.cpp b/libraries/controllers/src/controllers/UserInputMapper.cpp
index ec32e6b8c9..ff44d5d13d 100755
--- a/libraries/controllers/src/controllers/UserInputMapper.cpp
+++ b/libraries/controllers/src/controllers/UserInputMapper.cpp
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ QVector<QString> UserInputMapper::getActionNames() const {
 }
 
 Pose UserInputMapper::getPoseState(Action action) const {
-    if (QThread::currentThread() != thread()) { abort(); } // XXX
+    assert(QThread::currentThread() == thread());
     return _poseStates[toInt(action)];
 }