diff --git a/channel/tcp_channel.cc b/channel/tcp_channel.cc
index 959a2955..c000091b 100644
--- a/channel/tcp_channel.cc
+++ b/channel/tcp_channel.cc
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ void TCPChannel::conn_read_cb(uv_stream_t *stream, ssize_t nread, const uv_buf_t
     u32 res = conn->callbacks_->received_data((u8 *)conn->rx_buffer_, conn->rx_len_);
 
     if (res > 0) {
-      DEBUG_ASSUME(res <= conn->rx_len_);
+      ASSUME(res <= conn->rx_len_);
       conn->rx_len_ -= res;
       memmove(conn->rx_buffer_, (u8 *)conn->rx_buffer_ + res, conn->rx_len_);
     }
diff --git a/reducer/aggregation/agg_root_span.cc b/reducer/aggregation/agg_root_span.cc
index 89fb36c5..4106923d 100644
--- a/reducer/aggregation/agg_root_span.cc
+++ b/reducer/aggregation/agg_root_span.cc
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ AggRootSpan::~AggRootSpan() {}
 void AggRootSpan::update_node(
     ::ebpf_net::aggregation::weak_refs::agg_root span_ref, u64 timestamp, jsrv_aggregation__update_node *msg)
 {
-  DEBUG_ASSUME(msg->side <= 1).else_log("side must be either 0 or 1, instead got {}", msg->side);
+  ASSUME(msg->side <= 1).else_log("side must be either 0 or 1, instead got {}", msg->side);
 
   auto &stat_counters = local_core<AggCore>().stat_counters;
 
diff --git a/reducer/ingest/ingest_core.cc b/reducer/ingest/ingest_core.cc
index 0af41015..17f88ddf 100644
--- a/reducer/ingest/ingest_core.cc
+++ b/reducer/ingest/ingest_core.cc
@@ -71,10 +71,10 @@ IngestCore::IngestCore(
   }
   stop_async_.data = this;
 
-  DEBUG_ASSUME(ingest_to_logging_queues.num_receivers() == 1).else_log("Not using multiple logging cores");
+  ASSUME(ingest_to_logging_queues.num_receivers() == 1).else_log("Not using multiple logging cores");
 
   // Create the ingest workers and start the telemetry TCP server.
-  DEBUG_ASSUME(ingest_shard_count > 0).else_log("Ingest shards should be > 0, instead got {}", ingest_shard_count);
+  ASSUME(ingest_shard_count > 0).else_log("Ingest shards should be > 0, instead got {}", ingest_shard_count);
 
   std::vector<std::unique_ptr<IngestWorker>> workers;
   workers.reserve(ingest_shard_count);
diff --git a/reducer/ingest/ingest_worker.cc b/reducer/ingest/ingest_worker.cc
index 6edcbf3c..f45fe3d7 100644
--- a/reducer/ingest/ingest_worker.cc
+++ b/reducer/ingest/ingest_worker.cc
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ uint32_t IngestWorker::Callbacks::received_data(const u8 *data, int data_len)
     }
 
     // Increment the begin pointer by the bytes consumed.
-    DEBUG_ASSUME(static_cast<int>(*bytes_consumed) <= (end - begin));
+    ASSUME(static_cast<int>(*bytes_consumed) <= (end - begin));
     begin += *bytes_consumed;
     ++count;
 
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ uint32_t IngestWorker::Callbacks::received_data(const u8 *data, int data_len)
     // Process the decompressed data.
     begin += consumed_len;
 
-    assert(decompressor_active_);
+    ASSUME(decompressor_active_);
     const std::optional<uint32_t> consumed_uncompressed =
         received_data_internal(decompressor_.output_buf(), decompressor_.output_buf_size());
 
diff --git a/reducer/matching/flow_span.cc b/reducer/matching/flow_span.cc
index 076639df..9ed3fcde 100644
--- a/reducer/matching/flow_span.cc
+++ b/reducer/matching/flow_span.cc
@@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ void FlowSpan::http_update(::ebpf_net::matching::weak_refs::flow span_ref, u64 t
 
 void FlowSpan::dns_update(::ebpf_net::matching::weak_refs::flow span_ref, u64 timestamp, jsrv_matching__dns_update *msg)
 {
-  DEBUG_ASSUME(msg->side <= 1).else_log("side must be either 0 or 1, instead got {}", msg->side);
+  ASSUME(msg->side <= 1).else_log("side must be either 0 or 1, instead got {}", msg->side);
 
   auto const side = u8_to_side(msg->side);
   auto const is_rx = msg->client_server == (u8)SC_SERVER; // client(0) is 'tx', server(1) is 'rx'
diff --git a/reducer/reducer.cc b/reducer/reducer.cc
index 9c9bcb37..450c9f6e 100644
--- a/reducer/reducer.cc
+++ b/reducer/reducer.cc
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <util/boot_time.h>
 #include <util/debug.h>
 #include <util/environment_variables.h>
+#include <util/error_handling.h>
 #include <util/file_ops.h>
 #include <util/log.h>
 #include <util/uv_helpers.h>
@@ -258,8 +259,8 @@ void Reducer::init_cores()
       ingest_to_logging_queues_, ingest_to_matching_queues_, config_.telemetry_port);
 
   // all writers created
-  assert(stat_writer_num == num_stat_writers);
-  assert(!prom_metrics_publisher_ || prom_metric_writer_num == num_prom_metric_writers);
+  ASSUME(stat_writer_num == num_stat_writers);
+  ASSUME(!prom_metrics_publisher_ || prom_metric_writer_num == num_prom_metric_writers);
 }
 
 void Reducer::start_threads()