diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/core/Utils.java b/core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/core/Utils.java
index 5094175b..1a44bc5f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/core/Utils.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/core/Utils.java
@@ -67,9 +67,6 @@ public class Utils {
      * @return numBytes byte long array.
      */
     public static byte[] bigIntegerToBytes(BigInteger b, int numBytes) {
-        if (b == null) {
-            return null;
-        }
         byte[] bytes = new byte[numBytes];
         byte[] biBytes = b.toByteArray();
         int start = (biBytes.length == numBytes + 1) ? 1 : 0;