diff --git a/src/target/s32k3xx.c b/src/target/s32k3xx.c
index f79fac94ee6..395cb87018b 100644
--- a/src/target/s32k3xx.c
+++ b/src/target/s32k3xx.c
@@ -23,8 +23,6 @@
  * the XML memory map and Flash memory programming.
  */
 
-#include <assert.h>
-
 #include "command.h"
 #include "general.h"
 #include "target.h"
@@ -250,7 +248,11 @@ static bool s32k3xx_flash_erase(target_flash_s *const flash, target_addr_t addr,
 
 static bool s32k3xx_flash_write(target_flash_s *flash, target_addr_t dest, const void *src, size_t len)
 {
-	assert(len == flash->writesize);
+	if (len != flash->writesize) {
+		DEBUG_ERROR("%s: len %" PRIu32 " does not match writesize %" PRIu32 "!\n", __func__, (uint32_t)len,
+			(uint32_t)flash->writesize);
+		return false;
+	}
 
 	const uint32_t *const s_data = src;
 	s32k3xx_flash_prepare(flash);