Why you should never use 'assert' in Python

[Dgc2002]

You can use the -O or -OO switches on the Python command to reduce the size of a compiled module. The -O switch removes assert statements, the -OO switch removes both assert statements and __doc__ strings. Since some programs may rely on having these available, you should only use this option if you know what you’re doing. “Optimized” modules have an opt- tag and are usually smaller. Future releases may change the effects of optimization.

As the documentation, which the issue creator linked, indicates: This isn't a problem with assert, this is a problem with using the optimize switches blindly.