diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 8ee76c0a..025eb726 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2016-12-03 Even Rouault <even.rouault at spatialys.com>
+
+	* tools/tiffcp.c: replace assert( (bps % 8) == 0 ) by a non assert check.
+	Reported by Agostino Sarubbo.
+	Fixes http://bugzilla.maptools.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2605
+
 2016-12-03 Even Rouault <even.rouault at spatialys.com>
 
 	* tools/tiffcp.c: fix uint32 underflow/overflow that can cause heap-based
diff --git a/tools/tiffcp.c b/tools/tiffcp.c
index 6d96bb89..49c9d371 100644
--- a/tools/tiffcp.c
+++ b/tools/tiffcp.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $Id: tiffcp.c,v 1.59 2016-12-03 16:40:01 erouault Exp $ */
+/* $Id: tiffcp.c,v 1.60 2016-12-03 16:50:02 erouault Exp $ */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 1988-1997 Sam Leffler
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 #include <ctype.h>
-#include <assert.h>
 
 #ifdef HAVE_UNISTD_H
 # include <unistd.h>
@@ -1393,7 +1392,12 @@ DECLAREreadFunc(readSeparateTilesIntoBuffer)
             status = 0;
             goto done;
         }
-	assert( bps % 8 == 0 );
+        if( (bps % 8) != 0 )
+        {
+            TIFFError(TIFFFileName(in), "Error, cannot handle BitsPerSample that is not a multiple of 8");
+            status = 0;
+            goto done;
+        }
 	bytes_per_sample = bps/8;
 
 	for (row = 0; row < imagelength; row += tl) {
@@ -1584,7 +1588,12 @@ DECLAREwriteFunc(writeBufferToSeparateTiles)
             _TIFFfree(obuf);
             return 0;
         }
-	assert( bps % 8 == 0 );
+        if( (bps % 8) != 0 )
+        {
+            TIFFError(TIFFFileName(out), "Error, cannot handle BitsPerSample that is not a multiple of 8");
+            _TIFFfree(obuf);
+            return 0;
+        }
 	bytes_per_sample = bps/8;
 
 	for (row = 0; row < imagelength; row += tl) {