diff --git a/include/misc/__assert.h b/include/misc/__assert.h
index 6645cad7967..af93f59cc53 100644
--- a/include/misc/__assert.h
+++ b/include/misc/__assert.h
@@ -67,6 +67,11 @@
 #endif
 #endif
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_FORCE_NO_ASSERT
+#undef __ASSERT_ON
+#define __ASSERT_ON 0
+#endif
+
 #ifdef __ASSERT_ON
 #if (__ASSERT_ON < 0) || (__ASSERT_ON > 2)
 #error "Invalid __ASSERT() level: must be between 0 and 2"
diff --git a/subsys/debug/Kconfig b/subsys/debug/Kconfig
index 6a41cf38003..bfb7bc95df2 100644
--- a/subsys/debug/Kconfig
+++ b/subsys/debug/Kconfig
@@ -104,6 +104,16 @@ config ASSERT_LEVEL
 	  Level 1: on + warning in every file that includes __assert.h
 	  Level 2: on + no warning
 
+config FORCE_NO_ASSERT
+	bool
+	prompt "Force-disable no assertions"
+	default n
+	help
+	  This boolean option disables Zephyr assertion testing even
+	  in circumstances (sanitycheck) where it is enabled via
+	  CFLAGS and not Kconfig.  Added solely to be able to work
+	  around compiler bugs for specific tests.
+
 config OBJECT_TRACING
 	bool
 	prompt "Kernel object tracing"
diff --git a/tests/crypto/mbedtls/prj.conf b/tests/crypto/mbedtls/prj.conf
index d09eb270b97..ad8caebad6a 100644
--- a/tests/crypto/mbedtls/prj.conf
+++ b/tests/crypto/mbedtls/prj.conf
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ CONFIG_MBEDTLS_BUILTIN=y
 CONFIG_MBEDTLS_CFG_FILE="config-threadnet.h"
 CONFIG_MBEDTLS_TEST=y
 CONFIG_ZTEST=y
+CONFIG_FORCE_NO_ASSERT=y