diff --git a/app/src/util/thread.c b/app/src/util/thread.c
index fa774cfe..a0a99f20 100644
--- a/app/src/util/thread.c
+++ b/app/src/util/thread.c
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ sc_mutex_destroy(sc_mutex *mutex) {
 
 void
 sc_mutex_lock(sc_mutex *mutex) {
+    // SDL mutexes are recursive, but we don't want to use recursive mutexes
+    assert(!sc_mutex_held(mutex));
     int r = SDL_LockMutex(mutex->mutex);
 #ifndef NDEBUG
     if (r) {
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@ sc_mutex_lock(sc_mutex *mutex) {
 void
 sc_mutex_unlock(sc_mutex *mutex) {
 #ifndef NDEBUG
+    assert(sc_mutex_held(mutex));
     mutex->locker = 0;
 #endif
     int r = SDL_UnlockMutex(mutex->mutex);