diff --git a/src/serverassert.h b/src/serverassert.h
index d8c3dd425..08f97e574 100644
--- a/src/serverassert.h
+++ b/src/serverassert.h
@@ -38,7 +38,20 @@
 #ifndef VALKEY_ASSERT_H
 #define VALKEY_ASSERT_H
 
-#include "config.h"
+/* This file shouldn't have any dependencies to any other Valkey code. */
+
+#if __GNUC__ >= 5 || (__GNUC__ == 4 && __GNUC_MINOR__ >= 5)
+#define valkey_unreachable __builtin_unreachable
+#else
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#define valkey_unreachable abort
+#endif
+
+#if __GNUC__ >= 3
+#define likely(x) __builtin_expect(!!(x), 1)
+#else
+#define likely(x) (x)
+#endif
 
 #define assert(_e) (likely((_e))?(void)0 : (_serverAssert(#_e,__FILE__,__LINE__),valkey_unreachable()))
 #define panic(...) _serverPanic(__FILE__,__LINE__,__VA_ARGS__),valkey_unreachable()