diff --git a/src/common/compat.c b/src/common/compat.c
index 1b00c6395d..bad94c3eea 100644
--- a/src/common/compat.c
+++ b/src/common/compat.c
@@ -122,18 +122,19 @@ int tor_vsnprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, va_list args)
 const char *
 _tor_fix_source_file(const char *fname)
 {
-  const char *cp1, *cp2;
+  const char *cp1, *cp2, *r;
   cp1 = strrchr(fname, '/');
   cp2 = strrchr(fname, '\\');
   if (cp1 && cp2) {
-    return (cp1<cp2)?(cp2+1):(cp1+1);
+    r = (cp1<cp2)?(cp2+1):(cp1+1);
   } else if (cp1) {
-    return cp1+1;
+    r = cp1+1;
   } else if (cp2) {
-    return cp2+2;
+    r = cp2+1;
   } else {
-    return fname;
+    r = fname;
   }
+  return r;
 }
 
 #ifndef UNALIGNED_INT_ACCESS_OK
diff --git a/src/common/util.h b/src/common/util.h
index f1b1bff613..a37018bf3d 100644
--- a/src/common/util.h
+++ b/src/common/util.h
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@
  if (!(expr)) {                                               \
    log(LOG_ERR, "%s:%d: %s: Assertion %s failed; aborting.",  \
        _SHORT_FILE_, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__, #expr);          \
-   assert(expr); /* write to console too. */                  \
+   fprintf(stderr,"%s:%d %s: Assertion %s failed; aborting.\n", \
+       _SHORT_FILE_, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__, #expr);          \
    abort();  /* unreached */                                  \
  } } while (0)
 #endif