diff --git a/utils/src/stage_release.c b/utils/src/stage_release.c
index e4bc7bc0..670db538 100644
--- a/utils/src/stage_release.c
+++ b/utils/src/stage_release.c
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <limits.h>
-#include <assert.h>
 #include <argp.h>
 
 #include "sparse.h"
@@ -208,9 +207,6 @@ static int do_release(struct release_args *args)
 		return ret;
 	}
 
-	assert(args->offset % SCOUTFS_BLOCK_SM_SIZE == 0);
-	assert(args->length % SCOUTFS_BLOCK_SM_SIZE == 0);
-
 	ioctl_args.offset = args->offset;
 	ioctl_args.length = args->length;
 	ioctl_args.data_version = args->data_version;