diff --git a/tailbone/db.py b/tailbone/db.py
index 30f1da93..5104caa5 100644
--- a/tailbone/db.py
+++ b/tailbone/db.py
@@ -124,11 +124,6 @@ def register(session, initial_state=datamanager.STATUS_ACTIVE,
        This function is copied from upstream, and tweaked so that our custom
        :class:`ZopeTransactionExtension` will be used.
     """
-
-    from sqlalchemy import __version__
-    assert tuple(int(x) for x in __version__.split(".")) >= (0, 7), \
-        "SQLAlchemy version 0.7 or greater required to use register()"
-
     from sqlalchemy import event
 
     ext = ZopeTransactionExtension(