diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_globals.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_globals.c
index 687a4b0..673adf0 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_globals.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_globals.c
@@ -47,4 +47,6 @@ xfs_param_t xfs_params = {
 
 struct xfs_globals xfs_globals = {
 	.log_recovery_delay	=	0,	/* no delay by default */
+	.bug_on_assert		=	true,	/* historical default in DEBUG
+						 * mode */
 };
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_message.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_message.c
index 11792d8..e68bd10 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_message.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_message.c
@@ -110,7 +110,10 @@ assfail(char *expr, char *file, int line)
 {
 	xfs_emerg(NULL, "Assertion failed: %s, file: %s, line: %d",
 		expr, file, line);
-	BUG();
+	if (xfs_globals.bug_on_assert)
+		BUG();
+	else
+		WARN_ON(1);
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_sysctl.h b/fs/xfs/xfs_sysctl.h
index 984a349..82afee0 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_sysctl.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_sysctl.h
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ extern xfs_param_t	xfs_params;
 
 struct xfs_globals {
 	int	log_recovery_delay;	/* log recovery delay (secs) */
+	bool	bug_on_assert;		/* BUG() the kernel on assert failure */
 };
 extern struct xfs_globals	xfs_globals;
 
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_sysfs.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_sysfs.c
index 80ac15f..ec6e0e2 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_sysfs.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_sysfs.c
@@ -146,6 +146,38 @@ struct kobj_type xfs_mp_ktype = {
 /* debug */
 
 STATIC ssize_t
+bug_on_assert_store(
+	struct kobject		*kobject,
+	const char		*buf,
+	size_t			count)
+{
+	int			ret;
+	int			val;
+
+	ret = kstrtoint(buf, 0, &val);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
+	if (val == 1)
+		xfs_globals.bug_on_assert = true;
+	else if (val == 0)
+		xfs_globals.bug_on_assert = false;
+	else
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	return count;
+}
+
+STATIC ssize_t
+bug_on_assert_show(
+	struct kobject		*kobject,
+	char			*buf)
+{
+	return snprintf(buf, PAGE_SIZE, "%d\n", xfs_globals.bug_on_assert ? 1 : 0);
+}
+XFS_SYSFS_ATTR_RW(bug_on_assert);
+
+STATIC ssize_t
 log_recovery_delay_store(
 	struct kobject	*kobject,
 	const char	*buf,
@@ -176,6 +208,7 @@ log_recovery_delay_show(
 XFS_SYSFS_ATTR_RW(log_recovery_delay);
 
 static struct attribute *xfs_dbg_attrs[] = {
+	ATTR_LIST(bug_on_assert),
 	ATTR_LIST(log_recovery_delay),
 	NULL,
 };