diff --git a/Source/driver/Castro.cpp b/Source/driver/Castro.cpp
index 6a03660c42..28691bded4 100644
--- a/Source/driver/Castro.cpp
+++ b/Source/driver/Castro.cpp
@@ -591,7 +591,12 @@ Castro::read_params ()
         if (ppr.countval("max_level") > 0) {
             int max_level;
             ppr.get("max_level", max_level);
+            BL_ASSERT(max_level <= MAX_LEV);
             info.SetMaxLevel(max_level);
+        } else {
+            // the default max_level of AMRErrorTagInfo is 1000, but make sure
+            // that it is reasonable for Castro
+            info.SetMaxLevel(MAX_LEV);
         }
         if (ppr.countval("volume_weighting") > 0) {
             int volume_weighting;
@@ -604,10 +609,6 @@ Castro::read_params ()
             info.SetDerefine(derefine);
         }
 
-        // the default max_level of AMRErrorTagInfo is 1000, but make sure
-        // that it is reasonable for Castro
-        BL_ASSERT(info.m_max_level < MAX_LEV);
-
         if (ppr.countval("value_greater")) {
             Vector<Real> value;
             ppr.getarr("value_greater", value, 0, ppr.countval("value_greater"));