diff --git a/src/bootstrap/defaults/config.compiler.toml b/src/bootstrap/defaults/config.compiler.toml
index a737de3bd0856..269b90106e3aa 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/defaults/config.compiler.toml
+++ b/src/bootstrap/defaults/config.compiler.toml
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ compiler-docs = true
 # where adding `debug!()` appears to do nothing.
 # However, it makes running the compiler slightly slower.
 debug-logging = true
+# Enables debug assertions, which guard from many mistakes when working on the compiler.
+debug-assertions = true
 # Get actually-useful information from backtraces, profiling, etc. with minimal added bytes
 debuginfo-level = "line-tables-only"
 # This greatly increases the speed of rebuilds, especially when there are only minor changes. However, it makes the initial build slightly slower.
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/utils/change_tracker.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/utils/change_tracker.rs
index 85d17c8fa5077..a3eb781f1476a 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/utils/change_tracker.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/utils/change_tracker.rs
@@ -335,4 +335,9 @@ pub const CONFIG_CHANGE_HISTORY: &[ChangeInfo] = &[
         severity: ChangeSeverity::Warning,
         summary: "Some stamp names in the build artifacts may have changed slightly (e.g., from `llvm-finished-building` to `.llvm-stamp`).",
     },
+    ChangeInfo {
+        change_id: 135729,
+        severity: ChangeSeverity::Info,
+        summary: "Change the compiler profile to default to rust.debug-assertions = true",
+    },
 ];