diff --git a/esphome/components/sensor/filter.h b/esphome/components/sensor/filter.h
index dc822157d15..f7838078b75 100644
--- a/esphome/components/sensor/filter.h
+++ b/esphome/components/sensor/filter.h
@@ -497,11 +497,11 @@ optional<float> calibrate_linear_compute(const std::array<float, 3> *functions,
 template<size_t N> class CalibrateLinearFilter : public Filter {
  public:
   explicit CalibrateLinearFilter(std::initializer_list<std::array<float, 3>> linear_functions) {
+    ESPHOME_DEBUG_ASSERT(linear_functions.size() == N);
     size_t i = 0;
     for (const auto &f : linear_functions) {
       this->linear_functions_[i++] = f;
     }
-    ESPHOME_DEBUG_ASSERT(i == N);
   }
   optional<float> new_value(float value) override {
     return calibrate_linear_compute(this->linear_functions_.data(), N, value);