diff --git a/kernel/log.h b/kernel/log.h
index 53aae58c6..225ecb96d 100644
--- a/kernel/log.h
+++ b/kernel/log.h
@@ -217,10 +217,10 @@ void log_module(RTLIL::Module *module, std::string indent = "");
 void log_cell(RTLIL::Cell *cell, std::string indent = "");
 void log_wire(RTLIL::Wire *wire, std::string indent = "");
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
 static inline void log_assert_worker(bool cond, const char *expr, const char *file, int line) {
 	if (!cond) log_error("Assert `%s' failed in %s:%d.\n", expr, file, line);
 }
+#ifndef NDEBUG
 #  define log_assert(_assert_expr_) YOSYS_NAMESPACE_PREFIX log_assert_worker(_assert_expr_, #_assert_expr_, __FILE__, __LINE__)
 #else
 #  define log_assert(_assert_expr_) do { if (0) { (void)(_assert_expr_); } } while(0)