diff --git a/perl/default.nix b/perl/default.nix
index 742263067..dc0de1b2b 100644
--- a/perl/default.nix
+++ b/perl/default.nix
@@ -57,5 +57,10 @@ perl.pkgs.toPerlModule (
     postUnpack = "sourceRoot=$sourceRoot/perl";
 
     passthru = { inherit perl; };
+
+    doInstallCheck = true;
+    installCheckPhase = ''
+      env PERL5LIB="$PERL5LIB:$out/${perl.libPrefix}" perl -e 'use Nix::Store'
+    '';
   }
 )
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
index a1f72cf7c..dfdd64d28 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
@@ -5,14 +5,12 @@
 // can i make it any more obvious?
 #include "lix/libutil/result.hh"
 
-// Without this, Perl defines NDEBUG, which makes the assertions
-// ineffective and might break Lix
-#define DEBUGGING
-
 #include "EXTERN.h"
 #include "perl.h"
 #include "XSUB.h"
 
+#undef NDEBUG
+
 /* Prevent a clash between some Perl and libstdc++ macros. */
 #undef do_open
 #undef do_close