diff --git a/src/cryptography/hazmat/backends/openssl/backend.py b/src/cryptography/hazmat/backends/openssl/backend.py
index bf34946cbbfc..42fb44648e86 100644
--- a/src/cryptography/hazmat/backends/openssl/backend.py
+++ b/src/cryptography/hazmat/backends/openssl/backend.py
@@ -713,7 +713,9 @@ def _evp_pkey_to_public_key(self, evp_pkey) -> PUBLIC_KEY_TYPES:
             return _DSAPublicKey(self, dsa_cdata, evp_pkey)
         elif key_type == self._lib.EVP_PKEY_EC:
             ec_cdata = self._lib.EVP_PKEY_get1_EC_KEY(evp_pkey)
-            self.openssl_assert(ec_cdata != self._ffi.NULL)
+            if ec_cdata == self._ffi.NULL:
+                errors = self._consume_errors_with_text()
+                raise ValueError("Unable to load EC key", errors)
             ec_cdata = self._ffi.gc(ec_cdata, self._lib.EC_KEY_free)
             return _EllipticCurvePublicKey(self, ec_cdata, evp_pkey)
         elif key_type in self._dh_types: