diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 7b7f1c4..94e438b 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ AddOption('--coverage',
             help='Build with coverage (gcov) support'
 )
 
+AddOption('--with-assertions',
+            dest='assertions',
+            action='store_true',
+            help='Build with assertions enabled (Default for a debug build)'
+)
+
 AddOption('--stack-protection',
             dest = 'stack_protection',
             action='store_true',
@@ -51,6 +57,7 @@ AddOption('--stack-protection',
 
 
 build_type = GetOption('build_type')
+assertions = GetOption('assertions')
 test_xml = GetOption('test_xml')
 prefix = GetOption('prefix')
 if not (build_type in ['debug', 'release']):
@@ -81,8 +88,9 @@ env.Append(CPPPATH = ['#include'])
 if build_type == 'release':
     env.Append(CFLAGS = ['-O2'])
 
-    #this will turn off assert()
-    env.Append(CPPDEFINES = ['NDEBUG'])
+    if not assertions:
+        #this will turn off assert()
+        env.Append(CPPDEFINES = ['NDEBUG'])
 
 elif build_type == 'debug':
     env.Append(CPPDEFINES = ['DEBUG'])