diff --git a/dune/common/test/parametertreetest.cc b/dune/common/test/parametertreetest.cc
index 06d9e4e7fc8f0be33f925b04654de34d039eba19..bba72b9d5bb63bce9017c33c87cfa614e2b72411 100644
--- a/dune/common/test/parametertreetest.cc
+++ b/dune/common/test/parametertreetest.cc
@@ -4,19 +4,34 @@
 #include "config.h"
 #endif
 
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <iostream>
+#include <ostream>
 #include <sstream>
+
 #include <dune/common/parametertree.hh>
 #include <dune/common/parametertreeparser.hh>
 
+// This assert macro does not depend on the value of NDEBUG
+#define check_assert(expr)                                          \
+  do                                                                \
+  {                                                                 \
+    if(!(expr))                                                     \
+    {                                                               \
+      std::cerr << __FILE__ << ":" << __LINE__ << ": check_assert(" \
+                << #expr << ") failed" << std::endl;                \
+      std::abort();                                                 \
+    }                                                               \
+  } while(false)
+
 template<class P>
 void testparam(const P & p)
 {
   // try accessing key
-  assert(p.template get<int>("x1") == 1);
-  assert(p.template get<double>("x1") == 1.0);
-  assert(p.template get<std::string>("x2") == "hallo");
-  assert(p.template get<bool>("x3") == false);
+  check_assert(p.template get<int>("x1") == 1);
+  check_assert(p.template get<double>("x1") == 1.0);
+  check_assert(p.template get<std::string>("x2") == "hallo");
+  check_assert(p.template get<bool>("x3") == false);
   // try reading array like structures
   std::vector<unsigned int>
   array1 = p.template get< std::vector<unsigned int> >("array");
@@ -26,21 +41,21 @@ void testparam(const P & p)
   Dune::FieldVector<unsigned int, 8>
   array3 = p.template get< Dune::FieldVector<unsigned int, 8> >("array");
 #endif
-  assert(array1.size() == 8);
+  check_assert(array1.size() == 8);
   for (unsigned int i=0; i<8; i++)
   {
-    assert(array1[i] == i+1);
-    assert(array2[i] == i+1);
-    assert(array3[i] == i+1);
+    check_assert(array1[i] == i+1);
+    check_assert(array2[i] == i+1);
+    check_assert(array3[i] == i+1);
   }
   // try accessing subtree
   p.sub("Foo");
   p.sub("Foo").template get<std::string>("peng");
   // check hasSub and hasKey
-  assert(p.hasSub("Foo"));
-  assert(!p.hasSub("x1"));
-  assert(p.hasKey("x1"));
-  assert(!p.hasKey("Foo"));
+  check_assert(p.hasSub("Foo"));
+  check_assert(!p.hasSub("x1"));
+  check_assert(p.hasKey("x1"));
+  check_assert(!p.hasKey("Foo"));
   // try accessing inexistent key
   try {
     p.template get<int>("bar");
@@ -113,14 +128,14 @@ void testOptionsParserResults(std::vector<std::string> args,
     for (std::size_t i = 0; i < args.size(); ++i)
       argv[i] = &args[i][0];
     Dune::ParameterTreeParser::readNamedOptions(args.size(), argv, pt, keywords, required, allow_more, overwrite);
-    assert(referr == "");
+    check_assert(referr == "");
   }
   catch (const Dune::ParameterTreeParserError & e)
   {
     std::string err = e.what();
     std::size_t offset = err.find("]: ");
     err = err.substr(offset + 3, err.find('\n') - offset - 3);
-    assert(referr == err);
+    check_assert(referr == err);
   }
   if (foo != "" && foo != pt.get<std::string>("foo"))
     DUNE_THROW(Dune::Exception, "Options parser failed... foo = "