diff --git a/src/consensus/encode.rs b/src/consensus/encode.rs
index 1eae41d53d..91472da127 100644
--- a/src/consensus/encode.rs
+++ b/src/consensus/encode.rs
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ impl From<psbt::Error> for Error {
 pub fn serialize<T: Encodable + ?Sized>(data: &T) -> Vec<u8> {
     let mut encoder = Vec::new();
     let len = data.consensus_encode(&mut encoder).expect("in-memory writers don't error");
-    debug_assert_eq!(len, encoder.len());
+    assert_eq!(len, encoder.len());
     encoder
 }