diff --git a/Objects/object.c b/Objects/object.c
index 5bafbc00e0b..c8c1861a4df 100644
--- a/Objects/object.c
+++ b/Objects/object.c
@@ -763,7 +763,9 @@ _Py_HashBytes(unsigned char *p, Py_ssize_t len)
       We make the hash of the empty string be 0, rather than using
       (prefix ^ suffix), since this slightly obfuscates the hash secret
     */
+#ifdef Py_DEBUG
     assert(_Py_HashSecret_Initialized);
+#endif
     if (len == 0) {
         return 0;
     }
diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index bff33d9ad04..7e73bc226c1 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -11335,7 +11335,9 @@ unicode_hash(PyObject *self)
     Py_ssize_t len;
     Py_uhash_t x;
 
+#ifdef Py_DEBUG
     assert(_Py_HashSecret_Initialized);
+#endif
     if (_PyUnicode_HASH(self) != -1)
         return _PyUnicode_HASH(self);
     if (PyUnicode_READY(self) == -1)