-/* Defining NDEBUG disables assertions (which makes the code faster). */
-#if !defined(CONFIG_DEBUG_TCG) && !defined(NDEBUG)
-# define NDEBUG
+/* Enable TCI assertions only when debugging TCG (and without NDEBUG defined).
+ * Without assertions, the interpreter runs much faster. */
+#if defined(CONFIG_DEBUG_TCG)
+# define tci_assert(cond) assert(cond)
+#else
+# define tci_assert(cond) ((void)0)