diff --git a/src/hnswutils.c b/src/hnswutils.c
index 64f449e..f4e4d82 100644
--- a/src/hnswutils.c
+++ b/src/hnswutils.c
@@ -928,7 +928,7 @@ HnswSearchLayer(char *base, HnswQuery * q, List *ep, int ef, int lc, Relation in
 					continue;
 			}
 
-			if (eElement == NULL || !(eDistance < f->distance || alwaysAdd))
+			if (!(eDistance < f->distance || alwaysAdd))
 			{
 				if (discarded != NULL)
 				{