diff --git a/Modules/_io/bytesio.c b/Modules/_io/bytesio.c
index e45a2d1a16d..8bc7aeacf29 100644
--- a/Modules/_io/bytesio.c
+++ b/Modules/_io/bytesio.c
@@ -583,9 +583,9 @@ _io_BytesIO_readinto_impl(bytesio *self, Py_buffer *buffer)
             len = 0;
     }
 
-    memcpy(buffer->buf, PyBytes_AS_STRING(self->buf) + self->pos, len);
     assert(self->pos + len < PY_SSIZE_T_MAX);
     assert(len >= 0);
+    memcpy(buffer->buf, PyBytes_AS_STRING(self->buf) + self->pos, len);
     self->pos += len;
 
     return PyLong_FromSsize_t(len);