diff --git a/src/zmq_init.cpp b/src/zmq_init.cpp
index fe6aea2a..37aafe6d 100644
--- a/src/zmq_init.cpp
+++ b/src/zmq_init.cpp
@@ -118,8 +118,7 @@ class zmq::socket_base_t *zmq::zmq_init_t::get_owner ()
 
 uint64_t zmq::zmq_init_t::get_ordinal ()
 {
-    zmq_assert (false);
-    return 0;
+    return session_ordinal;
 }
 
 void zmq::zmq_init_t::process_plug ()