diff --git a/core/update.php b/core/update.php
index df94788..322bf0a 100644
--- a/core/update.php
+++ b/core/update.php
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ function update_task_list($active = NULL) {
 // created in a previous version of Drupal.
 if (db_table_exists('system')) {
   $system_schema = db_query('SELECT schema_version FROM {system} WHERE name = :system', array(':system' => 'system'))->fetchField();
-  if (isset($system_schema) && $system_schema < \Drupal::CORE_MINIMUM_SCHEMA_VERSION) {
+  if ($system_schema < \Drupal::CORE_MINIMUM_SCHEMA_VERSION) {
     print 'Your system schema version is ' . $system_schema . '. Updating directly from a schema version prior to 8000 is not supported. You must <a href="https://drupal.org/node/2179269">migrate your site to Drupal 8</a> first.';
     exit;
   }