diff --git a/modules/juce_core/xml/juce_XmlElement.cpp b/modules/juce_core/xml/juce_XmlElement.cpp
index 5939d9f12b..8d8e11e4f5 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/xml/juce_XmlElement.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_core/xml/juce_XmlElement.cpp
@@ -697,6 +697,8 @@ void XmlElement::removeChildElement (XmlElement* const childToRemove,
 {
     if (childToRemove != nullptr)
     {
+        jassert (containsChildElement (childToRemove));
+
         firstChildElement.remove (childToRemove);
 
         if (shouldDeleteTheChild)