https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=59675
--- Comment #5 from Jan Kratochvil <jan.kratochvil at redhat dot com> --- gcc-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64: gcc-5.1.1-1.fc23.x86_64 #include <debug/string> int main() { __gnu_debug::string s((const char *)0); } g++ -o gcc59675b gcc59675b.C -Wall -g -D_GLIBCXX_DEBUG -D_GLIBCXX_DEBUG_PEDANTIC ./gcc59675b 2>/dev/null /usr/include/c++/5.1.1/debug/functions.h:315: const _CharT* __gnu_debug::__check_string(const _CharT*) [with _CharT = char]: Assertion '__s != 0' failed. Aborted I was hitting this issue often on some older GCC versions but now I find it very difficult to reproduce. __glibcxx_assert() is probably no longer too much used. For some reason I could no longer even reproduce it with std::string.