diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
index 4f0abb5a..f468f796 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ struct socket_t {
     }
 };
 
+// macro for nicer error messages on server crash
+#define RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(x) if (!(x)) GGML_ABORT("Remote RPC server crashed or returned malformed response")
+
 // all RPC structures must be packed
 #pragma pack(push, 1)
 // ggml_tensor is serialized into rpc_tensor
@@ -425,7 +428,7 @@ static bool send_rpc_cmd(const std::shared_ptr<socket_t> & sock, enum rpc_cmd cm
 static bool check_server_version(const std::shared_ptr<socket_t> & sock) {
     rpc_msg_hello_rsp response;
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(sock, RPC_CMD_HELLO, nullptr, 0, &response, sizeof(response));
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     if (response.major != RPC_PROTO_MAJOR_VERSION || response.minor > RPC_PROTO_MINOR_VERSION) {
         fprintf(stderr, "RPC server version mismatch: %d.%d.%d\n", response.major, response.minor, response.patch);
         return false;
@@ -481,7 +484,7 @@ static void ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_free_buffer(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer) {
     ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_context * ctx = (ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_context *)buffer->context;
     rpc_msg_free_buffer_req request = {ctx->remote_ptr};
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(ctx->sock, RPC_CMD_FREE_BUFFER, &request, sizeof(request), nullptr, 0);
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     delete ctx;
 }
 
@@ -493,7 +496,7 @@ static void * ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_get_base(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer) {
     rpc_msg_buffer_get_base_req request = {ctx->remote_ptr};
     rpc_msg_buffer_get_base_rsp response;
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(ctx->sock, RPC_CMD_BUFFER_GET_BASE, &request, sizeof(request), &response, sizeof(response));
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     ctx->base_ptr = reinterpret_cast<void *>(response.base_ptr);
     return ctx->base_ptr;
 }
@@ -545,7 +548,7 @@ static enum ggml_status ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_init_tensor(ggml_backend_buffer_
         request.tensor = serialize_tensor(tensor);
 
         bool status = send_rpc_cmd(ctx->sock, RPC_CMD_INIT_TENSOR, &request, sizeof(request), nullptr, 0);
-        GGML_ASSERT(status);
+        RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     }
     return GGML_STATUS_SUCCESS;
 }
@@ -560,7 +563,7 @@ static void ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_set_tensor(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer, ggm
         request.hash = fnv_hash((const uint8_t*)data, size);
         rpc_msg_set_tensor_hash_rsp response;
         bool status = send_rpc_cmd(ctx->sock, RPC_CMD_SET_TENSOR_HASH, &request, sizeof(request), &response, sizeof(response));
-        GGML_ASSERT(status);
+        RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
         if (response.result) {
             // the server has the same data, no need to send it
             return;
@@ -573,7 +576,7 @@ static void ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_set_tensor(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer, ggm
     memcpy(input.data() + sizeof(rpc_tensor), &offset, sizeof(offset));
     memcpy(input.data() + sizeof(rpc_tensor) + sizeof(offset), data, size);
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(ctx->sock, RPC_CMD_SET_TENSOR, input.data(), input.size());
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
 }
 
 static void ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_get_tensor(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer, const ggml_tensor * tensor, void * data, size_t offset, size_t size) {
@@ -583,7 +586,7 @@ static void ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_get_tensor(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer, con
     request.offset = offset;
     request.size = size;
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(ctx->sock, RPC_CMD_GET_TENSOR, &request, sizeof(request), data, size);
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
 }
 
 static bool ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_cpy_tensor(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer, const ggml_tensor * src, ggml_tensor * dst) {
@@ -601,7 +604,7 @@ static bool ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_cpy_tensor(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer, con
     request.dst = serialize_tensor(dst);
     rpc_msg_copy_tensor_rsp response;
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(ctx->sock, RPC_CMD_COPY_TENSOR, &request, sizeof(request), &response, sizeof(response));
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     return response.result;
 }
 
@@ -609,7 +612,7 @@ static void ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_clear(ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer, uint8_t
     ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_context * ctx = (ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_context *)buffer->context;
     rpc_msg_buffer_clear_req request = {ctx->remote_ptr, value};
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(ctx->sock, RPC_CMD_BUFFER_CLEAR, &request, sizeof(request), nullptr, 0);
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
 }
 
 static ggml_backend_buffer_i ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_interface = {
@@ -635,7 +638,7 @@ static ggml_backend_buffer_t ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_type_alloc_buffer(ggml_back
     rpc_msg_alloc_buffer_rsp response;
     auto sock = get_socket(buft_ctx->endpoint);
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(sock, RPC_CMD_ALLOC_BUFFER, &request, sizeof(request), &response, sizeof(response));
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     if (response.remote_ptr != 0) {
         ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer = ggml_backend_buffer_init(buft,
             ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_interface,
@@ -650,7 +653,7 @@ static ggml_backend_buffer_t ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_type_alloc_buffer(ggml_back
 static size_t get_alignment(const std::shared_ptr<socket_t> & sock) {
     rpc_msg_get_alignment_rsp response;
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(sock, RPC_CMD_GET_ALIGNMENT, nullptr, 0, &response, sizeof(response));
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     return response.alignment;
 }
 
@@ -662,7 +665,7 @@ static size_t ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_type_get_alignment(ggml_backend_buffer_typ
 static size_t get_max_size(const std::shared_ptr<socket_t> & sock) {
     rpc_msg_get_max_size_rsp response;
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(sock, RPC_CMD_GET_MAX_SIZE, nullptr, 0, &response, sizeof(response));
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     return response.max_size;
 }
 
@@ -683,7 +686,7 @@ static size_t ggml_backend_rpc_buffer_type_get_alloc_size(ggml_backend_buffer_ty
 
         rpc_msg_get_alloc_size_rsp response;
         bool status = send_rpc_cmd(sock, RPC_CMD_GET_ALLOC_SIZE, &request, sizeof(request), &response, sizeof(response));
-        GGML_ASSERT(status);
+        RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
 
         return response.alloc_size;
     } else {
@@ -761,7 +764,7 @@ static enum ggml_status ggml_backend_rpc_graph_compute(ggml_backend_t backend, g
     rpc_msg_graph_compute_rsp response;
     auto sock = get_socket(rpc_ctx->endpoint);
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(sock, RPC_CMD_GRAPH_COMPUTE, input.data(), input.size(), &response, sizeof(response));
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     return (enum ggml_status)response.result;
 }
 
@@ -835,7 +838,7 @@ bool ggml_backend_is_rpc(ggml_backend_t backend) {
 static void get_device_memory(const std::shared_ptr<socket_t> & sock, size_t * free, size_t * total) {
     rpc_msg_get_device_memory_rsp response;
     bool status = send_rpc_cmd(sock, RPC_CMD_GET_DEVICE_MEMORY, nullptr, 0, &response, sizeof(response));
-    GGML_ASSERT(status);
+    RPC_STATUS_ASSERT(status);
     *free = response.free_mem;
     *total = response.total_mem;
 }