diff --git a/examples/hello-world/Makefile b/examples/hello-world/Makefile
index 258d8e9baf..17ca69df87 100644
--- a/examples/hello-world/Makefile
+++ b/examples/hello-world/Makefile
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ BOARD ?= native
 # This has to be the absolute path to the RIOT base directory:
 RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
 
+# CFLAGS += -DDEBUG_ASSERT_VERBOSE
+
 # Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
diff --git a/examples/hello-world/main.c b/examples/hello-world/main.c
index 213128ac64..e3d79db42d 100644
--- a/examples/hello-world/main.c
+++ b/examples/hello-world/main.c
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 
+#include "assert.h"
+
 int main(void)
 {
     puts("Hello World!");
@@ -28,5 +30,7 @@ int main(void)
     printf("You are running RIOT on a(n) %s board.\n", RIOT_BOARD);
     printf("This board features a(n) %s CPU.\n", RIOT_CPU);
 
+    assert(0);
+
     return 0;
 }