diff --git a/src/sparsevec.c b/src/sparsevec.c
index 58e67f9..6f6d73f 100644
--- a/src/sparsevec.c
+++ b/src/sparsevec.c
@@ -900,7 +900,7 @@ sparsevec_l2_normalize(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 				/* Safety check */
 				if (j == newResult->nnz)
-					break;
+					elog(ERROR, "safety check failed");
 
 				newResult->indices[j] = result->indices[i];
 				nx[j] = rx[i];