diff --git a/elk/training/train.py b/elk/training/train.py
index 8099e25a..82316506 100644
--- a/elk/training/train.py
+++ b/elk/training/train.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ def create_models_dir(self, out_dir: Path):
         return reporter_dir, lr_dir
 
     def make_eval(self, model, eval_dataset):
+        assert self.out_dir is not None
         return Eval(
             data=replace(
                 self.data,