diff --git a/lib/gears/debug.lua b/lib/gears/debug.lua
index 9f56e839..f36a8089 100644
--- a/lib/gears/debug.lua
+++ b/lib/gears/debug.lua
@@ -14,17 +14,6 @@ local pairs = pairs
 
 local debug = {}
 
---- Check that the given condition holds true, else throw an error
---
--- @param cond If this is false, throw a lua error with a backtrace.
--- @param[opt] message Message to print in the error.
-function debug.assert(cond, message)
-    local message = message or cond
-    if not cond then
-        error(traceback("Assertion failed: '" .. tostring(message) .. "'"))
-    end
-end
-
 --- Given a table (or any other data) return a string that contains its
 -- tag, value and type. If data is a table then recursively call `dump_raw`
 -- on each of its values.
diff --git a/lib/gears/matrix.lua b/lib/gears/matrix.lua
index f52d8770..5e6bf756 100644
--- a/lib/gears/matrix.lua
+++ b/lib/gears/matrix.lua
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 local cairo = require("lgi").cairo
-local debug = require("gears.debug")
 local matrix = {}
 
 -- Metatable for matrix instances. This is set up near the end of the file.
diff --git a/lib/wibox/drawable.lua b/lib/wibox/drawable.lua
index 4ba29c1f..bfcb5832 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/drawable.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/drawable.lua
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ local capi = {
 local beautiful = require("beautiful")
 local cairo = require("lgi").cairo
 local color = require("gears.color")
-local debug = require("gears.debug")
 local object = require("gears.object")
 local sort = require("gears.sort")
 local surface = require("gears.surface")
@@ -133,7 +132,7 @@ local function do_redraw(self)
 
     self.drawable:refresh()
 
-    debug.assert(cr.status == "SUCCESS", "Cairo context entered error state: " .. cr.status)
+    assert(cr.status == "SUCCESS", "Cairo context entered error state: " .. cr.status)
 end
 
 local function find_widgets(drawable, result, hierarchy, x, y)
diff --git a/lib/wibox/widget/base.lua b/lib/wibox/widget/base.lua
index c930985b..26203581 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/widget/base.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/widget/base.lua
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 -- @module wibox.widget.base
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-local debug = require("gears.debug")
 local object = require("gears.object")
 local cache = require("gears.cache")
 local matrix = require("gears.matrix")
@@ -423,9 +422,9 @@ end
 --- Do some sanity checking on widget. This function raises a lua error if
 -- widget is not a valid widget.
 function base.check_widget(widget)
-    debug.assert(type(widget) == "table")
+    assert(type(widget) == "table")
     for k, func in pairs({ "add_signal", "connect_signal", "disconnect_signal" }) do
-        debug.assert(type(widget[func]) == "function", func .. " is not a function")
+        assert(type(widget[func]) == "function", func .. " is not a function")
     end
 end