diff --git a/ompi/datatype/convertor.c b/ompi/datatype/convertor.c
index 7611eb5e8d..4859d1f246 100644
--- a/ompi/datatype/convertor.c
+++ b/ompi/datatype/convertor.c
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ OBJ_CLASS_INSTANCE(ompi_convertor_t, opal_object_t, ompi_convertor_construct, om
  *        1 if everything went fine and the data was completly converted
  *       -1 something wrong occurs.
  */
+#include "ompi/communicator/communicator.h"
 inline int32_t ompi_convertor_pack( ompi_convertor_t* pConv,
                                     struct iovec* iov, uint32_t* out_size,
                                     size_t* max_data, int32_t* freeAfter )
@@ -92,6 +93,17 @@ inline int32_t ompi_convertor_pack( ompi_convertor_t* pConv,
         *max_data = 0;
         return 1;  /* nothing to do */
     }
+    /* JMS */
+    if ( pConv->bConverted >= pConv->local_size ) {
+	sleep(ompi_mpi_comm_world.c_my_rank * 3);
+	printf("ASSERT FAILED\n");
+	ompi_ddt_dump(pConv->pDesc);
+	fprintf(stderr, "--------------------------------------------\n");
+	ompi_convertor_dump(pConv);
+	fprintf(stderr, "=============================================\n");
+	sleep(10);
+	abort();
+    }
     assert( pConv->bConverted < pConv->local_size );
 
     /* We dont allocate any memory. The packing function should allocate it
@@ -203,7 +215,8 @@ extern int ompi_ddt_local_sizes[DT_MAX_PREDEFINED];
 extern int ompi_convertor_create_stack_with_pos_general( ompi_convertor_t* convertor,
                                                          int starting_point, const int* sizes );
 
-inline int32_t ompi_convertor_set_position_nocheck( ompi_convertor_t* convertor, size_t* position )
+int32_t ompi_convertor_set_position_nocheck( ompi_convertor_t* convertor,
+                                             size_t* position )
 {
     int32_t rc;
 
@@ -251,9 +264,9 @@ ompi_convertor_personalize( ompi_convertor_t* convertor, uint32_t flags,
  *
  * I consider here that the convertor is clean, either never initialized or already cleanup.
  */
-inline int ompi_convertor_prepare( ompi_convertor_t* convertor,
-                                   const ompi_datatype_t* datatype, int32_t count,
-                                   const void* pUserBuf )
+int ompi_convertor_prepare( ompi_convertor_t* convertor,
+                            const ompi_datatype_t* datatype, int32_t count,
+                            const void* pUserBuf )
 {
     uint32_t required_stack_length = datatype->btypes[DT_LOOP] + 1;
 
diff --git a/ompi/datatype/convertor.h b/ompi/datatype/convertor.h
index 5e8ae58158..dad8cf11b9 100644
--- a/ompi/datatype/convertor.h
+++ b/ompi/datatype/convertor.h
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ ompi_convertor_copy_and_prepare_for_recv( const ompi_convertor_t* pSrcConv,
 /*
  * Upper level does not need to call the _nocheck function directly.
  */
-OMPI_DECLSPEC inline int32_t
+OMPI_DECLSPEC int32_t
 ompi_convertor_set_position_nocheck( ompi_convertor_t* convertor,
                                      size_t* position );
 static inline int32_t
diff --git a/ompi/datatype/new_pack.c b/ompi/datatype/new_pack.c
index 3ef547fdbb..5364754c4b 100644
--- a/ompi/datatype/new_pack.c
+++ b/ompi/datatype/new_pack.c
@@ -265,7 +265,6 @@ int ompi_convertor_generic_simple_pack( ompi_convertor_t* pConvertor,
         iov[iov_count].iov_len -= iov_len_local;  /* update the amount of valid data */
         total_packed += iov[iov_count].iov_len;
         pConvertor->bConverted += iov[iov_count].iov_len;  /* update the already converted bytes */
-        assert( iov_len_local >= 0 );
         /* We compute the checksum if we have to. But we will store the temporary
          * values in the a and b variables, and only at the end take in account the
          * value of the convertor checksum.
diff --git a/ompi/datatype/new_position.c b/ompi/datatype/new_position.c
index ddb62c8f61..7d607dd5b5 100644
--- a/ompi/datatype/new_position.c
+++ b/ompi/datatype/new_position.c
@@ -219,7 +219,6 @@ int ompi_convertor_generic_simple_position( ompi_convertor_t* pConvertor,
  complete_loop:
     (*position) -= iov_len_local;
     pConvertor->bConverted = *position;  /* update the already converted bytes */
-    assert( iov_len_local >= 0 );
     if( (pConvertor->pending_length != iov_len_local) &&
         (pConvertor->flags & CONVERTOR_RECV) ) {
         opal_output( 0, "Missing some data ?" );
diff --git a/ompi/datatype/new_unpack.c b/ompi/datatype/new_unpack.c
index d20aa030a7..320841ca8e 100644
--- a/ompi/datatype/new_unpack.c
+++ b/ompi/datatype/new_unpack.c
@@ -278,7 +278,6 @@ int ompi_convertor_generic_simple_unpack( ompi_convertor_t* pConvertor,
         iov[iov_count].iov_len -= iov_len_local;  /* update the amount of valid data */
         total_unpacked += iov[iov_count].iov_len;
         pConvertor->bConverted += iov[iov_count].iov_len;  /* update the already converted bytes */
-        assert( iov_len_local >= 0 );
         /* We compute the checksum if we have to. But we will store the temporary
          * values in the a and b variables, and only at the end take in account the
          * value of the convertor checksum.