diff --git a/examples/ccn-lite-client/Makefile b/examples/ccn-lite-client/Makefile
index 8f2dfd9ffb..2f759e1f1c 100644
--- a/examples/ccn-lite-client/Makefile
+++ b/examples/ccn-lite-client/Makefile
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
 # with the target all-valgrind instead of all:
 # make -B clean all-valgrind
 
-# Uncomment this to enable code in RIOT that does safety checking
+# Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-#CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
 
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
diff --git a/examples/ccn-lite-relay/Makefile b/examples/ccn-lite-relay/Makefile
index 83db57325a..ae13178bff 100644
--- a/examples/ccn-lite-relay/Makefile
+++ b/examples/ccn-lite-relay/Makefile
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
 # with the target all-valgrind instead of all:
 # make -B clean all-valgrind
 
-# Uncomment this to enable code in RIOT that does safety checking
+# Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-#CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
 
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
diff --git a/examples/default/Makefile b/examples/default/Makefile
index 15d4016401..82b5c0e651 100644
--- a/examples/default/Makefile
+++ b/examples/default/Makefile
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
 # with the target all-valgrind instead of all:
 # make -B clean all-valgrind
 
-# Uncomment this to enable code in RIOT that does safety checking
+# Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-#CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
 
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
diff --git a/examples/hello-world/Makefile b/examples/hello-world/Makefile
index 7a8d210b02..6d432913a0 100644
--- a/examples/hello-world/Makefile
+++ b/examples/hello-world/Makefile
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ BOARD ?= native
 # This has to be the absolute path to the RIOT base directory:
 RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
 
+# Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
+# which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
+# development process:
+CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
 
diff --git a/examples/ipc_pingpong/Makefile b/examples/ipc_pingpong/Makefile
index 18e3e3b85f..3affeb6333 100644
--- a/examples/ipc_pingpong/Makefile
+++ b/examples/ipc_pingpong/Makefile
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ BOARD ?= native
 # This has to be the absolute path to the RIOT base directory:
 RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
 
+# Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
+# which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
+# development process:
+CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
 
diff --git a/examples/riot_and_cpp/Makefile b/examples/riot_and_cpp/Makefile
index 0fc95e3cf8..c46da8e864 100644
--- a/examples/riot_and_cpp/Makefile
+++ b/examples/riot_and_cpp/Makefile
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
 # with the target all-valgrind instead of all:
 # make -B clean all-valgrind
 
-# Uncomment this to enable code in RIOT that does safety checking
+# Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-#CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
 
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
diff --git a/examples/rpl_udp/Makefile b/examples/rpl_udp/Makefile
index 69e607ca72..3d4d82b4e1 100644
--- a/examples/rpl_udp/Makefile
+++ b/examples/rpl_udp/Makefile
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
 # with the target all-valgrind instead of all:
 # make -B clean all-valgrind
 
-# Uncomment this to enable code in RIOT that does safety checking
+# Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-#CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
 
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1