diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index c8de5b13e..cad669876 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ before_install:
   - sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf automake libtool libcppunit-dev libsqlite3-dev sqlite3 libbotan-2-dev libssl-dev p11-kit
 script: sh testing/travis/travis.sh
 env:
+  - CPP_LIBRARY_ASSERTIONS=yes CRYPTO=openssl OBJSTORE=file
   - CRYPTO=openssl OBJSTORE=file
   - CRYPTO=openssl OBJSTORE=sqlite
   - CRYPTO=botan   OBJSTORE=file
diff --git a/testing/travis/travis.sh b/testing/travis/travis.sh
index 826fbc42f..3cb2089c7 100644
--- a/testing/travis/travis.sh
+++ b/testing/travis/travis.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
+CONF_CPP_LIBRARY_ASSERTIONS=""
 CONF_CRYPTO=""
 CONF_OBJSTORE=""
 
+case $CPP_LIBRARY_ASSERTIONS in
+yes)
+	CONF_CPP_LIBRARY_ASSERTIONS="$CONF_CPP_LIBRARY_ASSERTIONS -D_LIBCPP_DEBUG_LEVEL=1 -D_GLIBCXX_ASSERTIONS=1"
+esac
+
 case $CRYPTO in
 botan)
 	CONF_CRYPTO="$CONF_CRYPTO --with-crypto-backend=botan --with-botan=/usr"
@@ -31,5 +37,5 @@ sqlite)
 esac
 
 sh autogen.sh && \
-./configure $CONF_CRYPTO $CONF_OBJSTORE && \
+env CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS} ${CONF_CPP_LIBRARY_ASSERTIONS}" ./configure $CONF_CRYPTO $CONF_OBJSTORE && \
 make all check