diff --git a/spec/atom-spec.coffee b/spec/atom-spec.coffee
index 15af4ad50..c8c4a598f 100644
--- a/spec/atom-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/atom-spec.coffee
@@ -151,7 +151,8 @@ describe "the `atom` global", ->
 
     describe "if the condition is false", ->
       it "notifies onDidFailAssertion handlers with an error object based on the call site of the assertion", ->
-        atom.assert(false, "a == b")
+        result = atom.assert(false, "a == b")
+        expect(result).toBe false
         expect(errors.length).toBe 1
         expect(errors[0].message).toBe "Assertion failed: a == b"
         expect(errors[0].stack).toContain('atom-spec')
@@ -170,7 +171,8 @@ describe "the `atom` global", ->
 
     describe "if the condition is true", ->
       it "does nothing", ->
-        atom.assert(true, "a == b")
+        result = atom.assert(true, "a == b")
+        expect(result).toBe true
         expect(errors).toEqual []
 
   describe "saving and loading", ->
diff --git a/src/atom.coffee b/src/atom.coffee
index 4af35a91e..209a39e9c 100644
--- a/src/atom.coffee
+++ b/src/atom.coffee
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@ class Atom extends Model
   ###
 
   assert: (condition, message, metadata) ->
-    return if condition
+    return true if condition
 
     error = new Error("Assertion failed: " + message)
     Error.captureStackTrace(error, @assert)
@@ -728,6 +728,8 @@ class Atom extends Model
 
     @emitter.emit 'did-fail-assertion', error
 
+    false
+
   deserializeProject: ->
     Project = require './project'