diff --git a/libraries/app/application.cpp b/libraries/app/application.cpp
index 62cec1c4..6cfcac80 100644
--- a/libraries/app/application.cpp
+++ b/libraries/app/application.cpp
@@ -621,7 +621,12 @@ namespace detail {
                 // returns a vector where the first element is the common ancestor with the preferred chain,
                 // and the last element is the reference point you passed in
                 assert(fork_history.size() >= 2);
-                assert(fork_history.back() == reference_point);
+                if( fork_history.back() != reference_point )
+                {
+                   edump( (fork_history)(reference_point) );
+                   assert(fork_history.back() == reference_point);
+                }
+
                 block_id_type last_non_fork_block = fork_history.front();
                 fork_history.erase(fork_history.begin());  // remove the common ancestor
 
diff --git a/libraries/chain/db_block.cpp b/libraries/chain/db_block.cpp
index 518fccd0..4712cb38 100644
--- a/libraries/chain/db_block.cpp
+++ b/libraries/chain/db_block.cpp
@@ -79,7 +79,14 @@ const signed_transaction& database::get_recent_transaction(const transaction_id_
 std::vector<block_id_type> database::get_block_ids_on_fork(block_id_type head_of_fork) const
 {
   pair<fork_database::branch_type, fork_database::branch_type> branches = _fork_db.fetch_branch_from(head_block_id(), head_of_fork);
-  assert(branches.first.back()->previous_id() == branches.second.back()->previous_id());
+  if( !((branches.first.back()->previous_id() == branches.second.back()->previous_id())) )
+  {
+     edump( (head_of_fork)
+            (head_block_id())
+            (branches.first.size())
+            (branches.second.size()) );
+     assert(branches.first.back()->previous_id() == branches.second.back()->previous_id());
+  }
   std::vector<block_id_type> result;
   for (const item_ptr& fork_block : branches.second)
     result.emplace_back(fork_block->id);
diff --git a/libraries/plugins/witness/witness.cpp b/libraries/plugins/witness/witness.cpp
index db5154ec..8e3e9baf 100644
--- a/libraries/plugins/witness/witness.cpp
+++ b/libraries/plugins/witness/witness.cpp
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ block_production_condition::block_production_condition_enum witness_plugin::mayb
       _production_skip_flags
       );
    capture("n", block.block_num())("t", block.timestamp)("c", now);
-   p2p_node().broadcast(net::block_message(block));
+   fc::async( [this,block](){ p2p_node().broadcast(net::block_message(block)); } );
 
    return block_production_condition::produced;
 }