diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index 4fb1aed..710bcf3 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -6538,7 +6538,9 @@
     register Py_UNICODE *p;
     register long x;
 
+#ifdef Py_DEBUG
     assert(_Py_HashSecret_Initialized);
+#endif
     if (self->hash != -1)
         return self->hash;
     len = PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(self);