diff --git a/src/basic_iarchive.cpp b/src/basic_iarchive.cpp
index 1c6eb2047..b5c63c9ad 100644
--- a/src/basic_iarchive.cpp
+++ b/src/basic_iarchive.cpp
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ basic_iarchive_impl::load_pointer(
     class_id_type cid;
     load(ar, cid);
 
-    if(BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NULL_POINTER_TAG == cid){
+    if(/* BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NULL_POINTER_TAG */ cid < 0){
         t = NULL;
         return bpis_ptr;
     }