diff --git a/smoke-test/spring-boot-smoke-test-restclient/src/test/java/smoketest/restclient/SampleRestClientApplicationGh49223Tests.java b/smoke-test/spring-boot-smoke-test-restclient/src/test/java/smoketest/restclient/SampleRestClientApplicationGh49223Tests.java
index 16c648244a8..451af24955a 100644
--- a/smoke-test/spring-boot-smoke-test-restclient/src/test/java/smoketest/restclient/SampleRestClientApplicationGh49223Tests.java
+++ b/smoke-test/spring-boot-smoke-test-restclient/src/test/java/smoketest/restclient/SampleRestClientApplicationGh49223Tests.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 package smoketest.restclient;
 
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Objects;
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import tools.jackson.databind.DeserializationFeature;
@@ -39,8 +38,8 @@ class SampleRestClientApplicationGh49223Tests {
 	@Test
 	void applicationStarts() {
 		RestClient restClient = this.restClientBuilder.build();
-		List<?> messageConverters = (List<?>) Objects
-			.requireNonNull(ReflectionTestUtils.getField(restClient, "messageConverters"));
+		List<?> messageConverters = (List<?>) ReflectionTestUtils.getField(restClient, "messageConverters");
+		assertThat(messageConverters).isNotNull();
 		JacksonJsonHttpMessageConverter jacksonConverter = (JacksonJsonHttpMessageConverter) messageConverters.stream()
 			.filter((converter) -> converter instanceof JacksonJsonHttpMessageConverter)
 			.findFirst()