diff --git a/src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epollex_linux.c b/src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epollex_linux.c
index 3f5ff06e130..487f9a0fec1 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epollex_linux.c
+++ b/src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epollex_linux.c
@@ -1388,7 +1388,9 @@ const grpc_event_engine_vtable *grpc_init_epollex_linux(
     return NULL;
   }
 
+#ifndef NDEBUG
   grpc_register_tracer(&grpc_trace_pollable_refcount);
+#endif
 
   fd_global_init();