diff --git a/doc/index.htm b/doc/index.htm
index 11d7cf99..542f9f1d 100644
--- a/doc/index.htm
+++ b/doc/index.htm
@@ -273,7 +273,9 @@ enabled, expression templates disabled) and release mode (size and
 type conformance checks disabled, expression templates enabled).
 Please check, if the preprocessor symbol <code>NDEBUG</code> of
 <code>cassert</code> is defined. <code>NDEBUG</code> enables
-release mode, which in turn uses expression templates.</p>
+release mode, which in turn uses expression templates. You can 
+optionally define <code>BOOST_UBLAS_NDEBUG</code> to disable all
+bounds, structure and similar checks of uBLAS.</p>
 <p>Q: I've written some uBLAS tests, which try to incorrectly
 assign different matrix types or overrun vector and matrix
 dimensions. Why don't I get a compile time or runtime
diff --git a/include/boost/numeric/ublas/detail/config.hpp b/include/boost/numeric/ublas/detail/config.hpp
index 9752c708..376bf60e 100644
--- a/include/boost/numeric/ublas/detail/config.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/numeric/ublas/detail/config.hpp
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ namespace std {
 
 
 // Enable performance options in RELEASE mode
-#ifdef NDEBUG
+#if defined (NDEBUG) || defined (BOOST_UBLAS_NDEBUG)
 
 #ifndef BOOST_UBLAS_INLINE
 #define BOOST_UBLAS_INLINE inline