diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 76b4f71ca..273cab33b 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@ Stefano Di Martino (StefanoD)
 Steinar Gunderson (sesse)
 Stéphane Nicolet (snicolet)
 Stephen Touset (stouset)
+Styx (styxdoto)
 Syine Mineta (MinetaS)
 Taras Vuk (TarasVuk)
 Thanar2
diff --git a/src/search.cpp b/src/search.cpp
index b0efea869..71a46ea7b 100644
--- a/src/search.cpp
+++ b/src/search.cpp
@@ -856,10 +856,11 @@ Value Search::Worker::search(
     }
 
     // Step 9. Null move search with verification search
-    if (cutNode && (ss - 1)->currentMove != Move::null()
-        && ss->staticEval >= beta - 19 * depth + 403 && !excludedMove && pos.non_pawn_material(us)
-        && ss->ply >= nmpMinPly && !is_loss(beta))
+    if (cutNode && ss->staticEval >= beta - 19 * depth + 403 && !excludedMove
+        && pos.non_pawn_material(us) && ss->ply >= nmpMinPly && !is_loss(beta))
     {
+        assert((ss - 1)->currentMove != Move::null());
+
         // Null move dynamic reduction based on depth
         Depth R = 7 + depth / 3;