diff --git a/backend/open_webui/main.py b/backend/open_webui/main.py
index 49a559d58..15f41be69 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/main.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/main.py
@@ -589,10 +589,11 @@ class ChatCompletionMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
             if prompt is None:
                 raise Exception("No user message found")
             if rag_app.state.config.RELEVANCE_THRESHOLD == 0:
-                assert context_string.strip(), (
-                    "With a 0 relevancy threshold for RAG, the context cannot "
-                    "be empty"
-                )
+                if context_string.strip() == "":
+                    log.debug(
+                        f"With a 0 relevancy threshold for RAG, the context cannot be empty"
+                    )
+
             # Workaround for Ollama 2.0+ system prompt issue
             # TODO: replace with add_or_update_system_message
             if model["owned_by"] == "ollama":