diff --git a/src/smt/theory_arith_core.h b/src/smt/theory_arith_core.h
index 08c060f89..ef930c8a0 100644
--- a/src/smt/theory_arith_core.h
+++ b/src/smt/theory_arith_core.h
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ namespace smt {
             e = m_util.mk_power0(n->get_arg(0), n->get_arg(1));
         }
         if (e) {
-            ctx.assign(mk_eq(e, n, false), nullptr);
+            literal lit = mk_eq(e, n, false);
+            ctx.mark_as_relevant(lit);
+            ctx.assign(lit, nullptr);
         }
 
     }