diff --git a/lib/_stream_transform.js b/lib/_stream_transform.js
index b8d4a7704aebdb..a9fcddda2d9c83 100644
--- a/lib/_stream_transform.js
+++ b/lib/_stream_transform.js
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ Transform.prototype._write = function(chunk, encoding, cb) {
 Transform.prototype._read = function(n) {
   var ts = this._transformState;
 
-  if (ts.writechunk !== null && ts.writecb && !ts.transforming) {
+  if (ts.writechunk !== null && !ts.transforming) {
     ts.transforming = true;
     this._transform(ts.writechunk, ts.writeencoding, ts.afterTransform);
   } else {