diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/opto/vectornode.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/opto/vectornode.cpp
index dc7fd18a8d0..0e5739f39c2 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/opto/vectornode.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/opto/vectornode.cpp
@@ -1497,7 +1497,9 @@ int VectorCastNode::opcode(int sopc, BasicType bt, bool is_signed) {
   // Handle special case for to/from Half Float conversions
   switch (sopc) {
     case Op_ConvHF2F:
-      assert(bt == T_SHORT, "");
+      if (!is_signed || (bt != T_SHORT)) {
+        return 0;
+      }
       return Op_VectorCastHF2F;
     case Op_ConvF2HF:
       assert(bt == T_FLOAT, "");