diff --git a/src/network/socket/qnativesocketengine_winrt.cpp b/src/network/socket/qnativesocketengine_winrt.cpp
index 2ea6d6e015..62b067750c 100644
--- a/src/network/socket/qnativesocketengine_winrt.cpp
+++ b/src/network/socket/qnativesocketengine_winrt.cpp
@@ -176,10 +176,8 @@ QNativeSocketEngine::QNativeSocketEngine(QObject *parent)
 {
 #ifndef QT_NO_SSL
     Q_D(QNativeSocketEngine);
-    Q_ASSERT(parent);
-    d->sslSocket = qobject_cast<QSslSocket *>(parent->parent());
-#else
-    d->sslSocket = Q_NULLPTR;
+    if (parent)
+        d->sslSocket = qobject_cast<QSslSocket *>(parent->parent());
 #endif
 
     connect(this, SIGNAL(connectionReady()), SLOT(connectionNotification()), Qt::QueuedConnection);
@@ -827,6 +825,7 @@ QNativeSocketEnginePrivate::QNativeSocketEnginePrivate()
     , notifyOnException(false)
     , closingDown(false)
     , socketDescriptor(-1)
+    , sslSocket(Q_NULLPTR)
 {
 }