diff --git a/src/mhd2/auth_digest.c b/src/mhd2/auth_digest.c
index 04809370..83aef7a1 100644
--- a/src/mhd2/auth_digest.c
+++ b/src/mhd2/auth_digest.c
@@ -1718,9 +1718,7 @@ digest_update (struct DigestAlgorithm *restrict da,
 {
   mhd_assert (! da->uninitialised);
   mhd_assert (da->algo_selected);
-#ifdef _DEBUG
   mhd_assert (da->ready_for_hashing);
-#endif
   switch (da->algo)
   {
   case MHD_DIGEST_BASE_ALGO_MD5:
@@ -1837,9 +1835,7 @@ digest_calc_hash (struct DigestAlgorithm *da,
 {
   mhd_assert (! da->uninitialised);
   mhd_assert (da->algo_selected);
-#ifdef _DEBUG
   mhd_assert (da->ready_for_hashing);
-#endif
   switch (da->algo)
   {
   case MHD_DIGEST_BASE_ALGO_MD5: