diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/StatusHandler.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/StatusHandler.java
index d943d980937..7b822b86df2 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/StatusHandler.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/StatusHandler.java
@@ -164,7 +164,6 @@ final class StatusHandler {
 	private static Function<ResolvableType, ? extends @Nullable Object> initBodyConvertFunction(
 			ClientHttpResponse response, byte[] body, List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> messageConverters) {
 
-		Assert.state(!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(messageConverters), "Expected message converters");
 		return resolvableType -> {
 			try {
 				HttpMessageConverterExtractor<?> extractor =