diff --git a/gst/gststructure.c b/gst/gststructure.c
index aec4e673e8..011639a41a 100644
--- a/gst/gststructure.c
+++ b/gst/gststructure.c
@@ -219,8 +219,6 @@ gst_structure_new (const gchar * name, const gchar * firstfield, ...)
   GstStructure *structure;
   va_list varargs;
 
-  g_return_val_if_fail (name != NULL, NULL);
-
   va_start (varargs, firstfield);
   structure = gst_structure_new_valist (name, firstfield, varargs);
   va_end (varargs);
@@ -250,8 +248,6 @@ gst_structure_new_valist (const gchar * name,
 {
   GstStructure *structure;
 
-  g_return_val_if_fail (name != NULL, NULL);
-
   structure = gst_structure_empty_new (name);
 
   if (structure)