diff --git a/lib/resty/core/socket.lua b/lib/resty/core/socket.lua
index f68de60a7..ad50ae4a5 100644
--- a/lib/resty/core/socket.lua
+++ b/lib/resty/core/socket.lua
@@ -424,14 +424,10 @@ local function sslhandshake(cosocket, reused_session, server_name, ssl_verify,
         error("no request ctx found", 2)
     end
 
-    local res
-
     if rc == FFI_ERROR then
-        res = C.ngx_http_lua_ffi_socket_tcp_get_sslhandshake_result(r, u,
+        C.ngx_http_lua_ffi_socket_tcp_get_sslhandshake_result(r, u,
                   session_ptr, errmsg, openssl_error_code)
 
-        assert(res == FFI_ERROR)
-
         if openssl_error_code[0] ~= 0 then
             return nil, openssl_error_code[0] .. ": " .. ffi_str(errmsg[0])
         end
@@ -443,6 +439,8 @@ local function sslhandshake(cosocket, reused_session, server_name, ssl_verify,
         return reused_session
     end
 
+    local res
+
     if rc == FFI_OK then
         if reused_session == false then
             return true