diff --git a/harness/determined/pytorch/_pytorch_trial.py b/harness/determined/pytorch/_pytorch_trial.py
index 42512f1fd2e..1363f321483 100644
--- a/harness/determined/pytorch/_pytorch_trial.py
+++ b/harness/determined/pytorch/_pytorch_trial.py
@@ -992,8 +992,8 @@ def _validate(self, searcher_op: Optional[core.SearcherOperation] = None) -> Dic
 
         else:
             assert self._evaluate_full_dataset_defined(), "evaluate_full_dataset not defined."
-            assert self.validation_loader is not None
             if self.is_chief:
+                assert self.validation_loader is not None
                 metrics = self.trial.evaluate_full_dataset(data_loader=self.validation_loader)
 
                 if not isinstance(metrics, dict):