diff --git a/target/riscv/csr.c b/target/riscv/csr.c
index 865ee9efda..4451bd1263 100644
--- a/target/riscv/csr.c
+++ b/target/riscv/csr.c
@@ -3826,6 +3826,11 @@ static inline RISCVException riscv_csrrw_check(CPURISCVState *env,
         return RISCV_EXCP_ILLEGAL_INST;
     }
 
+    /* ensure CSR is implemented by checking predicate */
+    if (!csr_ops[csrno].predicate) {
+        return RISCV_EXCP_ILLEGAL_INST;
+    }
+
     /* privileged spec version check */
     if (env->priv_ver < csr_min_priv) {
         return RISCV_EXCP_ILLEGAL_INST;
@@ -3843,7 +3848,6 @@ static inline RISCVException riscv_csrrw_check(CPURISCVState *env,
      * illegal instruction exception should be triggered instead of virtual
      * instruction exception. Hence this comes after the read / write check.
      */
-    g_assert(csr_ops[csrno].predicate != NULL);
     RISCVException ret = csr_ops[csrno].predicate(env, csrno);
     if (ret != RISCV_EXCP_NONE) {
         return ret;
@@ -4032,7 +4036,10 @@ static RISCVException write_jvt(CPURISCVState *env, int csrno,
     return RISCV_EXCP_NONE;
 }
 
-/* Control and Status Register function table */
+/*
+ * Control and Status Register function table
+ * riscv_csr_operations::predicate() must be provided for an implemented CSR
+ */
 riscv_csr_operations csr_ops[CSR_TABLE_SIZE] = {
     /* User Floating-Point CSRs */
     [CSR_FFLAGS]   = { "fflags",   fs,     read_fflags,  write_fflags },