diff --git a/src/flow.c b/src/flow.c
index 11c7bc4370..5abedb2ddb 100644
--- a/src/flow.c
+++ b/src/flow.c
@@ -474,7 +474,9 @@ void FlowShutdown(void)
         for (u = 0; u < flow_config.hash_size; u++) {
             Flow *f = flow_hash[u].head;
             while (f) {
+#ifdef DEBUG_VALIDATION
                 BUG_ON(SC_ATOMIC_GET(f->use_cnt) != 0);
+#endif
                 Flow *n = f->hnext;
                 uint8_t proto_map = FlowGetProtoMapping(f->proto);
                 FlowClearMemory(f, proto_map);