diff --git a/src/nfa/goughcompile.cpp b/src/nfa/goughcompile.cpp
index 98031617..a23d570a 100644
--- a/src/nfa/goughcompile.cpp
+++ b/src/nfa/goughcompile.cpp
@@ -206,10 +206,6 @@ void makeCFG_top_edge(GoughGraph &cfg, const vector<GoughVertex> &vertices,
             assert(contains(src_slots, slot_id));
 
             shared_ptr<GoughSSAVarMin> vmin = make_shared<GoughSSAVarMin>();
-            if (!vmin) {
-                assert(0);
-                throw std::bad_alloc();
-            }
             cfg[e].vars.emplace_back(vmin);
             final_var = vmin.get();
 
@@ -321,10 +317,6 @@ void makeCFG_edge(GoughGraph &cfg, const map<u32, u32> &som_creators,
             DEBUG_PRINTF("bypassing min on join %u\n", slot_id);
         } else {
             shared_ptr<GoughSSAVarMin> vmin = make_shared<GoughSSAVarMin>();
-            if (!vmin) {
-                assert(0);
-                throw std::bad_alloc();
-            }
             cfg[e].vars.emplace_back(vmin);
             final_var = vmin.get();
 
diff --git a/src/nfagraph/ng_som.cpp b/src/nfagraph/ng_som.cpp
index ee5a8f18..518b6ebc 100644
--- a/src/nfagraph/ng_som.cpp
+++ b/src/nfagraph/ng_som.cpp
@@ -2445,10 +2445,6 @@ static
 bool doLitHaigSom(NG &ng, const NGHolder &g, som_type som) {
     ue2_literal lit;
     shared_ptr<NGHolder> rhs = make_shared<NGHolder>();
-    if (!rhs) {
-        assert(0);
-        throw std::bad_alloc();
-    }
     if (!ng.cc.grey.allowLitHaig) {
         return false;
     }
@@ -2513,10 +2509,6 @@ bool doHaigLitHaigSom(NG &ng, NGHolder &g,
     ue2_literal lit;
     shared_ptr<NGHolder> rhs = make_shared<NGHolder>();
     shared_ptr<NGHolder> lhs = make_shared<NGHolder>();
-    if (!rhs || !lhs) {
-        assert(0);
-        throw std::bad_alloc();
-    }
 
     if (!splitOffBestLiteral(g, regions, &lit, &*lhs, &*rhs, ng.cc)) {
         return false;
diff --git a/src/nfagraph/ng_violet.cpp b/src/nfagraph/ng_violet.cpp
index 86cdf5ae..05a44117 100644
--- a/src/nfagraph/ng_violet.cpp
+++ b/src/nfagraph/ng_violet.cpp
@@ -1035,11 +1035,6 @@ bool splitRoseEdge(const NGHolder &base_graph, RoseInGraph &vg,
     shared_ptr<NGHolder> lhs = make_shared<NGHolder>();
     shared_ptr<NGHolder> rhs = make_shared<NGHolder>();
 
-    if (!lhs || !rhs) {
-        assert(0);
-        throw std::bad_alloc();
-    }
-
     unordered_map<NFAVertex, NFAVertex> lhs_map;
     unordered_map<NFAVertex, NFAVertex> rhs_map;
 
@@ -1233,10 +1228,6 @@ void splitEdgesByCut(const NGHolder &h, RoseInGraph &vg,
             DEBUG_PRINTF("splitting on pivot %zu\n", h[pivot].index);
             unordered_map<NFAVertex, NFAVertex> temp_map;
             shared_ptr<NGHolder> new_lhs = make_shared<NGHolder>();
-            if (!new_lhs) {
-                assert(0);
-                throw std::bad_alloc();
-            }
             splitLHS(h, pivot, new_lhs.get(), &temp_map);
 
             /* want to cut off paths to pivot from things other than the pivot -
@@ -1318,10 +1309,7 @@ void splitEdgesByCut(const NGHolder &h, RoseInGraph &vg,
             if (!contains(done_rhs, adj)) {
                 unordered_map<NFAVertex, NFAVertex> temp_map;
                 shared_ptr<NGHolder> new_rhs = make_shared<NGHolder>();
-                if (!new_rhs) {
-                    assert(0);
-                    throw std::bad_alloc();
-                }
+
                 splitRHS(h, adj, new_rhs.get(), &temp_map);
                 remove_edge(new_rhs->start, new_rhs->accept, *new_rhs);
                 remove_edge(new_rhs->start, new_rhs->acceptEod, *new_rhs);
@@ -2293,10 +2281,7 @@ void splitEdgesForSuffix(const NGHolder &base_graph, RoseInGraph &vg,
     assert(!splitters.empty());
 
     shared_ptr<NGHolder> lhs = make_shared<NGHolder>();
-    if (!lhs) {
-        assert(0);
-        throw bad_alloc();
-    }
+
     unordered_map<NFAVertex, NFAVertex> v_map;
     cloneHolder(*lhs, base_graph, &v_map);
     lhs->kind = NFA_INFIX;
diff --git a/src/rose/rose_build_convert.cpp b/src/rose/rose_build_convert.cpp
index c89c6ddd..9f1e563e 100644
--- a/src/rose/rose_build_convert.cpp
+++ b/src/rose/rose_build_convert.cpp
@@ -561,10 +561,7 @@ bool handleMixedPrefixCliche(const NGHolder &h, RoseGraph &g, RoseVertex v,
     DEBUG_PRINTF("woot?\n");
 
     shared_ptr<NGHolder> h_new = make_shared<NGHolder>();
-    if (!h_new) {
-        assert(0);
-        throw std::bad_alloc();
-    }
+
     unordered_map<NFAVertex, NFAVertex> rhs_map;
     vector<NFAVertex> exits_vec;
     insert(&exits_vec, exits_vec.end(), exits);