Index: kernel/generic/src/ipc/ipcrsc.c
===================================================================
--- kernel/generic/src/ipc/ipcrsc.c	(revision fb1f66455609100aadcc9136b8a6b5c757ddb2e2)
+++ kernel/generic/src/ipc/ipcrsc.c	(revision 8a5de14f3ecae64915109f754571f1b49f73c772)
@@ -219,5 +219,12 @@
 		return false;
 
-	assert(phone_obj->phone->state == IPC_PHONE_CONNECTING);
+	if (phone_obj->phone->state != IPC_PHONE_CONNECTING) {
+		/*
+		 * This looks like another phone. The one we were expecting
+		 * under this handle must be in the IPC_PHONE_CONNECTING state.
+		 */
+		kobject_put(phone_obj);
+		return false;
+	}
 
 	/* Hand over phone_obj reference to the answerbox */