diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/jfr/instrumentation/jfrEventClassTransformer.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/jfr/instrumentation/jfrEventClassTransformer.cpp
index 8c3b895345f..5e4e4a5cf5f 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/jfr/instrumentation/jfrEventClassTransformer.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/jfr/instrumentation/jfrEventClassTransformer.cpp
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ class AnnotationIterator : public StackObj {
                                                                      _buffer(_limit > 2 ? ar->adr_at(2) : nullptr),
                                                                      _current(0),
                                                                      _next(0) {
-    if (_buffer != nullptr) {
+    if (_limit >= 2) {
       _limit -= 2; // subtract sizeof(u2) number of annotations field
     }
   }