diff --git a/.cirrus.yml b/.cirrus.yml
index c7123e5e..e0b3dc22 100644
--- a/.cirrus.yml
+++ b/.cirrus.yml
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@ freebsd_instance:
 
 task:
   install_script: pkg install -y gmake bash git
-  script: git fetch --tags --force && gmake check
+  script: git fetch --tags --force && gmake MDBX_BUILD_OPTIONS="-DNDEBUG=1 -DMDBX_FORCE_ASSERTIONS=1" check
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index edd88ca5..0dbc6338 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -33,5 +33,5 @@ jobs:
     - name: fetch tags
       run: git fetch --unshallow --tags --prune --force
     - name: make check
-      run: make --keep-going all && MALLOC_CHECK_=7 MALLOC_PERTURB_=42 make --keep-going check
+      run: make MDBX_BUILD_OPTIONS="-DNDEBUG=1 -DMDBX_FORCE_ASSERTIONS=1" --keep-going all && MALLOC_CHECK_=7 MALLOC_PERTURB_=42 make MDBX_BUILD_OPTIONS="-DNDEBUG=1 -DMDBX_FORCE_ASSERTIONS=1" --keep-going check
       shell: bash