diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.cpp
@@ -66,10 +66,6 @@
   assert(value != kTopLevelValue &&
          "attempting to reset the transformation root");
 
-  // TODO: this may go now
-  if (value.use_empty())
-    return success();
-
   auto iface = value.getType().cast<TransformTypeInterface>();
   DiagnosedSilenceableFailure result =
       iface.checkPayload(value.getLoc(), targets);