diff --git a/lib/heap/Kconfig b/lib/heap/Kconfig
index 7f01b280b3b..89ede278006 100644
--- a/lib/heap/Kconfig
+++ b/lib/heap/Kconfig
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ menu "Heap and Memory Allocation"
 
 config SYS_HEAP_VALIDATE
 	bool "Internal heap validity checking"
+	depends on ASSERT
 	help
 	  The sys_heap implementation is instrumented for extensive
 	  internal validation.  Leave this off by default, unless