diff --git a/src/render/opengles2/SDL_render_gles2.c b/src/render/opengles2/SDL_render_gles2.c
index 1e539ae75..7254cb7a3 100644
--- a/src/render/opengles2/SDL_render_gles2.c
+++ b/src/render/opengles2/SDL_render_gles2.c
@@ -1030,9 +1030,6 @@ GLES2_CacheShader(SDL_Renderer *renderer, GLES2_ShaderType type, SDL_BlendMode b
     /* Find a matching shader instance that's supported on this hardware */
     for (i = 0; i < shader->instance_count && !instance; ++i) {
         for (j = 0; j < data->shader_format_count && !instance; ++j) {
-            if (!shader->instances) {
-                continue;
-            }
             if (!shader->instances[i]) {
                 continue;
             }