diff --git a/include/dwarfs/error.h b/include/dwarfs/error.h
index 95defda0..c34272d6 100644
--- a/include/dwarfs/error.h
+++ b/include/dwarfs/error.h
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class system_error : public boost::system::system_error {
 
 #define DWARFS_THROW(cls, ...) throw cls(__VA_ARGS__, __FILE__, __LINE__)
 
-#define DWARFS_ASSERT(expr, message)                                           \
+#define DWARFS_CHECK(expr, message)                                            \
   do {                                                                         \
     if (!(expr)) {                                                             \
       assertion_failed(#expr, message, __FILE__, __LINE__);                    \
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/block_cache.cpp b/src/dwarfs/block_cache.cpp
index b1c84091..b2710070 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/block_cache.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/block_cache.cpp
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ class block_request {
       : begin_(begin)
       , end_(end)
       , promise_(std::move(promise)) {
-    DWARFS_ASSERT(begin_ < end_, "invalid block_request");
+    DWARFS_CHECK(begin_ < end_, "invalid block_request");
   }
 
   block_request(block_request&&) = default;
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp b/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
index 28a74bed..7c7cb33a 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ scanner_<LoggerPolicy>::scan_tree(const std::string& path, progress& prog) {
   while (!queue.empty()) {
     auto parent = std::dynamic_pointer_cast<dir>(queue.front());
 
-    DWARFS_ASSERT(parent, "expected directory");
+    DWARFS_CHECK(parent, "expected directory");
 
     queue.pop_front();
     const std::string& path = parent->path();