diff --git a/src/node_trace_events.cc b/src/node_trace_events.cc
index 13a3dbce1b26b8..985c706dc4a2f1 100644
--- a/src/node_trace_events.cc
+++ b/src/node_trace_events.cc
@@ -95,9 +95,8 @@ static std::unordered_set<std::string> categoryGroups;
 // Gets a pointer to the category-enabled flags for a tracing category group,
 // if tracing is enabled for it.
 static const uint8_t* GetCategoryGroupEnabled(const char* category_group) {
-    if (category_group == nullptr) return nullptr;
-
-    return TRACE_EVENT_API_GET_CATEGORY_GROUP_ENABLED(category_group);
+  CHECK_NOT_NULL(category_group);
+  return TRACE_EVENT_API_GET_CATEGORY_GROUP_ENABLED(category_group);
 }
 
 static const char* GetCategoryGroup(Environment* env,