diff --git a/asfpy/ldap.py b/asfpy/ldap.py
index c46730b..cad178a 100644
--- a/asfpy/ldap.py
+++ b/asfpy/ldap.py
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 
 """ ASF LDAP Account Manager """
 
+if not __debug__:
+  raise RuntimeError("This code requires Assertions to be enabled")
+
 import sys
 assert sys.version_info >= (3, 2)
 
diff --git a/asfpy/messaging.py b/asfpy/messaging.py
index 51e4a61..e58d668 100644
--- a/asfpy/messaging.py
+++ b/asfpy/messaging.py
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@
 # note: there may be some in svn:infra/trunk
 #
 
+if not __debug__:
+  raise RuntimeError("This code requires Assertions to be enabled")
+
 import email.utils
 import email.header
 import smtplib
diff --git a/asfpy/sqlite.py b/asfpy/sqlite.py
index 02ee5da..ac5a9fc 100644
--- a/asfpy/sqlite.py
+++ b/asfpy/sqlite.py
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 
 "SQLite document-store wrapper for ASF."
 
+if not __debug__:
+  raise RuntimeError("This code requires Assertions to be enabled")
+
 import sqlite3
 import typing