diff --git a/svl/source/items/poolio.cxx b/svl/source/items/poolio.cxx
index c695bb92788b..4f474ec787c3 100644
--- a/svl/source/items/poolio.cxx
+++ b/svl/source/items/poolio.cxx
@@ -258,9 +258,13 @@ SvStream &SfxItemPool::Store(SvStream &rStream) const
                                 rStream.WriteUInt16( convertSfxItemKindToUInt16(pItem->GetKind()) );
                             else
                             {
-                                rStream.WriteUInt16( pItem->GetRefCount() );
                                 if( pItem->GetRefCount() > SFX_ITEMS_OLD_MAXREF )
+                                {
+                                    assert(!"refcount does not fit into 16-bits");
                                     rStream.SetError( ERRCODE_IO_NOTSTORABLEINBINARYFORMAT );
+                                }
+                                else
+                                    rStream.WriteUInt16( pItem->GetRefCount() );
                             }
 
                             if ( !rStream.GetError() )