diff --git a/util.h b/util.h
index 9b5abe6..fc22c23 100644
--- a/util.h
+++ b/util.h
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #ifndef UTIL_H
 #define UTIL_H
 
-#include <assert.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
@@ -59,7 +58,6 @@ static inline size_t align(size_t size, size_t align) {
 }
 
 // u4_arr_{set,get} are helper functions for using u8 array as an array of unsigned 4-bit values.
-static_assert(sizeof(u8) == 1, "unexpected u8 size");
 
 // val is treated as a 4-bit value
 static inline void u4_arr_set(u8 *arr, size_t idx, u8 val) {