diff --git a/libavutil/pixelutils.c b/libavutil/pixelutils.c
index 8f0402499e..1ec4fbb0ec 100644
--- a/libavutil/pixelutils.c
+++ b/libavutil/pixelutils.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "config.h"
 #include "common.h"
 #include "pixelutils.h"
+#include "internal.h"
 
 #if CONFIG_PIXELUTILS
 
@@ -151,6 +152,8 @@ int main(void)
         goto end;
     }
 
+    ff_check_pixfmt_descriptors();
+
 #define RANDOM_INIT(buf, size) do {             \
     int k;                                      \
     for (k = 0; k < size; k++) {                \
diff --git a/libavutil/utils.c b/libavutil/utils.c
index 3682168f2b..0b765ed0de 100644
--- a/libavutil/utils.c
+++ b/libavutil/utils.c
@@ -54,9 +54,6 @@ unsigned avutil_version(void)
         av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Libavutil has been linked to a broken llrint()\n");
     }
 
-#if defined(ASSERT_LEVEL) && ASSERT_LEVEL > 0
-    ff_check_pixfmt_descriptors();
-#endif
     checks_done = 1;
     return LIBAVUTIL_VERSION_INT;
 }