diff --git a/ext/standard/microtime.c b/ext/standard/microtime.c
index b4ed537dd9c..73a34e5fdf7 100644
--- a/ext/standard/microtime.c
+++ b/ext/standard/microtime.c
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ static void _php_gettimeofday(INTERNAL_FUNCTION_PARAMETERS, int mode)
 	ZEND_PARSE_PARAMETERS_END();
 
 	if (gettimeofday(&tp, NULL)) {
-		RETURN_FALSE;
+		ZEND_ASSERT(0 && "gettimeofday() can't fail");
 	}
 
 	if (get_as_float) {