diff --git a/pkg/core/transaction/witness_condition.go b/pkg/core/transaction/witness_condition.go
index cb41b7746..80d01d369 100644
--- a/pkg/core/transaction/witness_condition.go
+++ b/pkg/core/transaction/witness_condition.go
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ func unmarshalArrayOfConditionJSONs(arr []json.RawMessage, maxDepth int) ([]Witn
 	if l == 0 {
 		return nil, errors.New("empty array of conditions")
 	}
-	if l >= maxSubitems {
+	if l > maxSubitems {
 		return nil, errors.New("too many elements")
 	}
 	res := make([]WitnessCondition, l)