diff --git a/desktop/app/src/utils/assertNotNull.tsx b/desktop/app/src/utils/assertNotNull.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94bf7c84e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/app/src/utils/assertNotNull.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ */
+
+export function assertNotNull<T extends any>(
+  value: T,
+  message: string = 'Unexpected null/undefined value found',
+): asserts value is Exclude<T, undefined | null> {
+  if (value === null || value === undefined) {
+    throw new Error(message);
+  }
+}