diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/EmitC/IR/EmitC.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/EmitC/IR/EmitC.cpp
index 1709654b90138..f82b20712b8c6 100644
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/EmitC/IR/EmitC.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/EmitC/IR/EmitC.cpp
@@ -386,9 +386,7 @@ OpFoldResult emitc::ConstantOp::fold(FoldAdaptor adaptor) { return getValue(); }
 Operation *ExpressionOp::getRootOp() {
   auto yieldOp = cast<YieldOp>(getBody()->getTerminator());
   Value yieldedValue = yieldOp.getResult();
-  Operation *rootOp = yieldedValue.getDefiningOp();
-  assert(rootOp && "Yielded value not defined within expression");
-  return rootOp;
+  return yieldedValue.getDefiningOp();
 }
 
 LogicalResult ExpressionOp::verify() {
@@ -406,6 +404,14 @@ LogicalResult ExpressionOp::verify() {
   if (!yieldResult)
     return emitOpError("must yield a value at termination");
 
+  Operation *rootOp = yieldResult.getDefiningOp();
+
+  if (!rootOp)
+    return emitOpError("yielded value has no defining op");
+
+  if (rootOp->getParentOp() != getOperation())
+    return emitOpError("yielded value not defined within expression");
+
   Type yieldType = yieldResult.getType();
 
   if (resultType != yieldType)
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/EmitC/invalid_ops.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/EmitC/invalid_ops.mlir
index 3793dfe3f173b..3946a36a83c6f 100644
--- a/mlir/test/Dialect/EmitC/invalid_ops.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Dialect/EmitC/invalid_ops.mlir
@@ -346,6 +346,28 @@ func.func @test_expression_multiple_results(%arg0: i32) -> i32 {
 
 // -----
 
+emitc.func @test_expression_no_defining_op(%a : i32) {
+  // expected-error @+1 {{'emitc.expression' op yielded value has no defining op}}
+  %res = emitc.expression : i32 {
+    emitc.yield %a : i32
+  }
+
+  return
+}
+
+// -----
+
+emitc.func @test_expression_op_outside_expression() {
+  %cond = literal "true" : i1
+  // expected-error @+1 {{'emitc.expression' op yielded value not defined within expression}}
+  %res = emitc.expression : i1 {
+    emitc.yield %cond : i1
+  }
+  return
+}
+
+// -----
+
 // expected-error @+1 {{'emitc.func' op requires zero or exactly one result, but has 2}}
 emitc.func @multiple_results(%0: i32) -> (i32, i32) {
   emitc.return %0 : i32