diff --git a/node/consensus/src/lib.rs b/node/consensus/src/lib.rs
index fdf247dfdd..b5229467d3 100644
--- a/node/consensus/src/lib.rs
+++ b/node/consensus/src/lib.rs
@@ -479,7 +479,8 @@ impl<N: Network> Consensus<N> {
 
         // Create the candidate next block.
         let next_block = self.ledger.prepare_advance_to_next_quorum_block(subdag, transmissions)?;
-        // Check that the block is well-formed.
+        // Check that the block is well-formed. Run only in debug mode to catch issues during development; redundant for validators.
+        #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
         self.ledger.check_next_block(&next_block)?;
         // Advance to the next block.
         self.ledger.advance_to_next_block(&next_block)?;