diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 7223431ddf..eb012b549e 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -270,7 +270,6 @@ elif cc.get_id() == 'gcc' or cc.get_id() == 'clang'
     '-Wmissing-include-dirs',
     '-Wmissing-noreturn',
     '-Wnested-externs',
-    '-Wnull-dereference',
     '-Wold-style-definition',
     '-Wpointer-arith',
     '-Wshadow',
@@ -304,6 +303,10 @@ elif cc.get_id() == 'gcc' or cc.get_id() == 'clang'
   if cc.get_id() == 'gcc'
     test_cflags += ['-Wcast-align'] # This warns too much on clang
   endif
+
+  if not gtk_debug_cflags.contains('-DG_DISABLE_ASSERT')
+    test_cflags += ['-Wnull-dereference'] # Too noisy when assertions are disabled
+  endif
 else
   test_cflags = []
 endif