diff --git a/include/asterisk/strings.h b/include/asterisk/strings.h
index 226c7bb67e..79dac87001 100644
--- a/include/asterisk/strings.h
+++ b/include/asterisk/strings.h
@@ -29,10 +29,25 @@
 
 /* You may see casts in this header that may seem useless but they ensure this file is C++ clean */
 
+#ifdef AST_DEVMODE
+#define ast_strlen_zero(foo)	_ast_strlen_zero(foo, __FILE__, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, __LINE__)
+static force_inline int _ast_strlen_zero(const char *s, const char *file, const char *function, int line)
+{
+	if (!s || (*s == '\0')) {
+		return 1;
+	}
+	if (!strcmp(s, "(null)")) {
+		ast_log(__LOG_WARNING, file, line, function, "Possible programming error: \"(null)\" is not NULL!\n");
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+#else
 static force_inline int ast_strlen_zero(const char *s)
 {
 	return (!s || (*s == '\0'));
 }
+#endif
 
 /*! \brief returns the equivalent of logic or for strings:
  * first one if not empty, otherwise second one.
diff --git a/include/asterisk/utils.h b/include/asterisk/utils.h
index 0de0727a7e..4989b6d888 100644
--- a/include/asterisk/utils.h
+++ b/include/asterisk/utils.h
@@ -662,8 +662,8 @@ static void force_inline _ast_assert(int condition, const char *condition_str,
 	if (__builtin_expect(!condition, 1)) {
 		/* Attempt to put it into the logger, but hope that at least someone saw the
 		 * message on stderr ... */
-		ast_log(LOG_ERROR, "FRACK!, Failed assertion %s (%d) at line %d in %s of %s\n",
-			condition_str, condition, line, function, file);
+		ast_log(__LOG_ERROR, file, line, function, "FRACK!, Failed assertion %s (%d)\n",
+			condition_str, condition);
 		fprintf(stderr, "FRACK!, Failed assertion %s (%d) at line %d in %s of %s\n",
 			condition_str, condition, line, function, file);
 		/* Give the logger a chance to get the message out, just in case we abort(), or