diff --git a/src/reports.c b/src/reports.c
index 4339e4fea..c5b542135 100644
--- a/src/reports.c
+++ b/src/reports.c
@@ -2064,6 +2064,7 @@ static void eval_spell(struct opstack **stack, const void *userdata)
     const struct spell *sp = (const struct spell *)opop(stack).v;
     const char *c =
         sp ? spell_name(sp, f->locale) : LOC(f->locale, "an_unknown_spell");
+    assert(c || !"spell without description!");
     size_t len = strlen(c);
     variant var;
 
@@ -2077,6 +2078,7 @@ static void eval_curse(struct opstack **stack, const void *userdata)
     const struct curse_type *sp = (const struct curse_type *)opop(stack).v;
     const char *c =
         sp ? curse_name(sp, f->locale) : LOC(f->locale, "an_unknown_curse");
+    assert(c || !"spell effect without description!");
     size_t len = strlen(c);
     variant var;