diff -r 9df20f292907 -r e25530faeda0 src/audio/SDL_audio.c
--- a/src/audio/SDL_audio.c	Fri Mar 20 10:35:42 2015 -0400
+++ b/src/audio/SDL_audio.c	Fri Mar 20 11:11:44 2015 -0400
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@
         return -1;
     }
 
-    SDL_assert(handle != NULL);
+    SDL_assert(handle != NULL);  /* we reserve NULL, audio backends can't use it. */
 
     item->handle = handle;
     SDL_strlcpy(item->name, name, size - sizeof (SDL_AudioDeviceItem));