diff --git a/pkg/col/coldataext/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/col/coldataext/BUILD.bazel
index d4910afff48b..5f258b8e9882 100644
--- a/pkg/col/coldataext/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/col/coldataext/BUILD.bazel
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/sql/sem/eval",
         "//pkg/sql/sem/tree",
         "//pkg/sql/types",
+        "//pkg/util/buildutil",
         "@com_github_cockroachdb_errors//:errors",
     ],
 )
diff --git a/pkg/col/coldataext/datum_vec.go b/pkg/col/coldataext/datum_vec.go
index 884640ab7f09..7ad5ccb3e1c9 100644
--- a/pkg/col/coldataext/datum_vec.go
+++ b/pkg/col/coldataext/datum_vec.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/sem/eval"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/sem/tree"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/types"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/buildutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
 )
 
@@ -90,7 +91,9 @@ func (dv *datumVec) Get(i int) coldata.Datum {
 // Set implements coldata.DatumVec interface.
 func (dv *datumVec) Set(i int, v coldata.Datum) {
 	datum := convertToDatum(v)
-	dv.assertValidDatum(datum)
+	if buildutil.CrdbTestBuild {
+		dv.assertValidDatum(datum)
+	}
 	dv.data[i] = datum
 }
 
@@ -106,21 +109,27 @@ func (dv *datumVec) Window(start, end int) coldata.DatumVec {
 // CopySlice implements coldata.DatumVec interface.
 func (dv *datumVec) CopySlice(src coldata.DatumVec, destIdx, srcStartIdx, srcEndIdx int) {
 	castSrc := src.(*datumVec)
-	dv.assertSameTypeFamily(castSrc.t)
+	if buildutil.CrdbTestBuild {
+		dv.assertSameTypeFamily(castSrc.t)
+	}
 	copy(dv.data[destIdx:], castSrc.data[srcStartIdx:srcEndIdx])
 }
 
 // AppendSlice implements coldata.DatumVec interface.
 func (dv *datumVec) AppendSlice(src coldata.DatumVec, destIdx, srcStartIdx, srcEndIdx int) {
 	castSrc := src.(*datumVec)
-	dv.assertSameTypeFamily(castSrc.t)
+	if buildutil.CrdbTestBuild {
+		dv.assertSameTypeFamily(castSrc.t)
+	}
 	dv.data = append(dv.data[:destIdx], castSrc.data[srcStartIdx:srcEndIdx]...)
 }
 
 // AppendVal implements coldata.DatumVec interface.
 func (dv *datumVec) AppendVal(v coldata.Datum) {
 	datum := convertToDatum(v)
-	dv.assertValidDatum(datum)
+	if buildutil.CrdbTestBuild {
+		dv.assertValidDatum(datum)
+	}
 	dv.data = append(dv.data, datum)
 }