diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_log_recover.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_log_recover.c
index 82d46ce69d5..70e3ba32e6b 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_log_recover.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_log_recover.c
@@ -1419,7 +1419,13 @@ xlog_recover_add_to_trans(
 		return 0;
 	item = trans->r_itemq;
 	if (item == NULL) {
-		ASSERT(*(uint *)dp == XFS_TRANS_HEADER_MAGIC);
+		/* we need to catch log corruptions here */
+		if (*(uint *)dp != XFS_TRANS_HEADER_MAGIC) {
+			xlog_warn("XFS: xlog_recover_add_to_trans: "
+				  "bad header magic number");
+			ASSERT(0);
+			return XFS_ERROR(EIO);
+		}
 		if (len == sizeof(xfs_trans_header_t))
 			xlog_recover_add_item(&trans->r_itemq);
 		memcpy(&trans->r_theader, dp, len); /* d, s, l */