diff --git a/src/net.cpp b/src/net.cpp
index 19358dd5b7..db914096f8 100644
--- a/src/net.cpp
+++ b/src/net.cpp
@@ -689,6 +689,33 @@ bool CNode::ReceiveMsgBytes(const char *pch, unsigned int nBytes, bool& complete
     return true;
 }
 
+void CNode::SetSendVersion(int nVersionIn)
+{
+    // Send version may only be changed in the version message, and
+    // only one version message is allowed per session. We can therefore
+    // treat this value as const and even atomic as long as it's only used
+    // once a version message has been successfully processed. Any attempt to
+    // set this twice is an error.
+    if (nSendVersion != 0) {
+        error("Send version already set for node: %i. Refusing to change from %i to %i", id, nSendVersion, nVersionIn);
+    } else {
+        nSendVersion = nVersionIn;
+    }
+}
+
+int CNode::GetSendVersion() const
+{
+    // The send version should always be explicitly set to
+    // INIT_PROTO_VERSION rather than using this value until SetSendVersion
+    // has been called.
+    if (nSendVersion == 0) {
+        error("Requesting unset send version for node: %i. Using %i", id, INIT_PROTO_VERSION);
+        return INIT_PROTO_VERSION;
+    }
+    return nSendVersion;
+}
+
+
 int CNetMessage::readHeader(const char *pch, unsigned int nBytes)
 {
     // copy data to temporary parsing buffer
diff --git a/src/net.h b/src/net.h
index 05f178f9c5..1e3033785e 100644
--- a/src/net.h
+++ b/src/net.h
@@ -723,25 +723,8 @@ public:
     {
         return nRecvVersion;
     }
-    void SetSendVersion(int nVersionIn)
-    {
-        // Send version may only be changed in the version message, and
-        // only one version message is allowed per session. We can therefore
-        // treat this value as const and even atomic as long as it's only used
-        // once the handshake is complete. Any attempt to set this twice is an
-        // error.
-        assert(nSendVersion == 0);
-        nSendVersion = nVersionIn;
-    }
-
-    int GetSendVersion() const
-    {
-        // The send version should always be explicitly set to
-        // INIT_PROTO_VERSION rather than using this value until the handshake
-        // is complete.
-        assert(nSendVersion != 0);
-        return nSendVersion;
-    }
+    void SetSendVersion(int nVersionIn);
+    int GetSendVersion() const;
 
     CNode* AddRef()
     {