diff --git a/include/amici/model.h b/include/amici/model.h
index 3d2645028a..d355ea7fee 100644
--- a/include/amici/model.h
+++ b/include/amici/model.h
@@ -2020,7 +2020,11 @@ class Model : public AbstractModel, public ModelDimensions {
      * Indicates whether the result of every call to `Model::f*` should be
      * checked for finiteness
      */
+#ifdef NDEBUG
     bool always_check_finite_{false};
+#else
+    bool always_check_finite_{true};
+#endif
 
     /** indicates whether sigma residuals are to be added for every datapoint */
     bool sigma_res_{false};