diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml
index 5b85a80c6b..ada29b5b60 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--
-$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml,v 1.17 2000/07/22 14:49:00 petere Exp $
+$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml,v 1.18 2000/08/11 18:31:06 tgl Exp $
 -->
 
 <Chapter Id="runtime">
@@ -683,8 +683,11 @@ env PGOPTIONS='--geqo=off' psql
         Turns on various assertion checks. This is a debugging aid. If
         you are experiencing strange problems or crashes you might
         want to turn this on, as it might expose programming mistakes.
-        To use this option, the macro <literal>USE_ASSERT_CHECKING</>
-        must be defined when Postgres is built.
+        To use this option, the macro <literal>USE_ASSERT_CHECKING</literal>
+        must be defined when Postgres is built (see the configure option
+	<literal>--enable-cassert</literal>).  Note that
+	<literal>DEBUG_ASSERTIONS</literal> defaults to ON if Postgres
+	has been built this way.
        </para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
index c7a48241d0..69360cc80a 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Support for grand unified configuration scheme, including SET
  * command, configuration file, and command line options.
  *
- * $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c,v 1.7 2000/07/14 15:43:47 thomas Exp $
+ * $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c,v 1.8 2000/08/11 18:31:10 tgl Exp $
  *
  * Copyright 2000 by PostgreSQL Global Development Group
  * Written by Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net>.
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ extern bool Log_connections;
  * Debugging options
  */
 #ifdef USE_ASSERT_CHECKING
-bool assert_enabled;
+bool assert_enabled         = true;
 #endif
 bool Debug_print_query      = false;
 bool Debug_print_plan       = false;
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ bool Show_executor_stats    = false;
 bool Show_query_stats       = false; /* this is sort of all three above together */
 bool Show_btree_build_stats = false;
 
-bool SQL_inheritance;
+bool SQL_inheritance        = true;
 
 
 enum config_type
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ ConfigureNamesBool[] =
 	{"log_pid",                 PGC_SIGHUP,     &Log_pid,               false},
 
 #ifdef USE_ASSERT_CHECKING
-	{"debug_assertions",        PGC_USERSET,    &assert_enabled,        false},
+	{"debug_assertions",        PGC_USERSET,    &assert_enabled,        true},
 #endif
 
 	{"debug_print_query",       PGC_USERSET,    &Debug_print_query,     false},