diff --git a/tinyxml2.cpp b/tinyxml2.cpp
index 7b975c9..af27418 100755
--- a/tinyxml2.cpp
+++ b/tinyxml2.cpp
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ void StrPair::CollapseWhitespace()
     // Trim leading space.
     _start = XMLUtil::SkipWhiteSpace( _start );
 
-    if ( _start && *_start ) {
+    if ( *_start ) {
         char* p = _start;	// the read pointer
         char* q = _start;	// the write pointer
 
@@ -277,6 +277,8 @@ const char* StrPair::GetStr()
 
 const char* XMLUtil::ReadBOM( const char* p, bool* bom )
 {
+    TIXMLASSERT( p );
+    TIXMLASSERT( bom );
     *bom = false;
     const unsigned char* pu = reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char*>(p);
     // Check for BOM:
@@ -286,6 +288,7 @@ const char* XMLUtil::ReadBOM( const char* p, bool* bom )
         *bom = true;
         p += 3;
     }
+    TIXMLASSERT( p );
     return p;
 }
 
@@ -505,7 +508,7 @@ char* XMLDocument::Identify( char* p, XMLNode** node )
 {
     char* const start = p;
     p = XMLUtil::SkipWhiteSpace( p );
-    if( !p || !*p ) {
+    if( !*p ) {
         return p;
     }
 
@@ -641,6 +644,7 @@ void XMLNode::DeleteChildren()
 
 void XMLNode::Unlink( XMLNode* child )
 {
+    TIXMLASSERT( child );
     TIXMLASSERT( child->_document == _document );
     if ( child == _firstChild ) {
         _firstChild = _firstChild->_next;
@@ -661,6 +665,7 @@ void XMLNode::Unlink( XMLNode* child )
 
 void XMLNode::DeleteChild( XMLNode* node )
 {
+    TIXMLASSERT( node );
     TIXMLASSERT( node->_document == _document );
     TIXMLASSERT( node->_parent == this );
     DeleteNode( node );
@@ -1132,7 +1137,7 @@ char* XMLAttribute::ParseDeep( char* p, bool processEntities )
 
     // Skip white space before =
     p = XMLUtil::SkipWhiteSpace( p );
-    if ( !p || *p != '=' ) {
+    if ( *p != '=' ) {
         return 0;
     }
 
@@ -1468,7 +1473,7 @@ char* XMLElement::ParseAttributes( char* p )
     // Read the attributes.
     while( p ) {
         p = XMLUtil::SkipWhiteSpace( p );
-        if ( !p || !(*p) ) {
+        if ( !(*p) ) {
             _document->SetError( XML_ERROR_PARSING_ELEMENT, start, Name() );
             return 0;
         }
@@ -1535,9 +1540,6 @@ char* XMLElement::ParseDeep( char* p, StrPair* strPair )
 {
     // Read the element name.
     p = XMLUtil::SkipWhiteSpace( p );
-    if ( !p ) {
-        return 0;
-    }
 
     // The closing element is the </element> form. It is
     // parsed just like a regular element then deleted from
@@ -1828,7 +1830,7 @@ XMLError XMLDocument::LoadFile( FILE* fp )
     const char* p = _charBuffer;
     p = XMLUtil::SkipWhiteSpace( p );
     p = XMLUtil::ReadBOM( p, &_writeBOM );
-    if ( !p || !*p ) {
+    if ( !*p ) {
         SetError( XML_ERROR_EMPTY_DOCUMENT, 0, 0 );
         return _errorID;
     }
@@ -1877,7 +1879,7 @@ XMLError XMLDocument::Parse( const char* p, size_t len )
     const char* start = p;
     p = XMLUtil::SkipWhiteSpace( p );
     p = XMLUtil::ReadBOM( p, &_writeBOM );
-    if ( !p || !*p ) {
+    if ( !*p ) {
         SetError( XML_ERROR_EMPTY_DOCUMENT, 0, 0 );
         return _errorID;
     }
diff --git a/tinyxml2.h b/tinyxml2.h
index 67b3e86..14993ef 100755
--- a/tinyxml2.h
+++ b/tinyxml2.h
@@ -533,9 +533,11 @@ class XMLUtil
 {
 public:
     static const char* SkipWhiteSpace( const char* p )	{
+        TIXMLASSERT( p );
         while( IsWhiteSpace(*p) ) {
             ++p;
         }
+        TIXMLASSERT( p );
         return p;
     }
     static char* SkipWhiteSpace( char* p )				{