diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a449c2ae..7dc54c8d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Stage 1: Build the release binary
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-FROM rust:1.95-bookworm AS builder
+FROM rust:1.97-bookworm AS builder
 
 # Install build dependencies for aws-lc-rs (used by rustls).
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
diff --git a/crates/stealthos-crypto/src/identity.rs b/crates/stealthos-crypto/src/identity.rs
index df4ff070..2c0bb706 100644
--- a/crates/stealthos-crypto/src/identity.rs
+++ b/crates/stealthos-crypto/src/identity.rs
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ impl HostIdentity {
         use blake2::digest::Update;
         use blake2::digest::consts::U32;
 
-        debug_assert!(data.len() == 68);
+        debug_assert_eq!(data.len(), 68);
 
         // Recompute MAC over magic || seed.
         let mut hasher = Blake2b::<U32>::default();
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ impl HostIdentity {
         use chacha20poly1305::aead::Aead;
         use chacha20poly1305::{ChaCha20Poly1305, KeyInit, Nonce};
 
-        debug_assert!(data.len() == 85);
+        debug_assert_eq!(data.len(), 85);
 
         // Verify sentinel to help distinguish wrong passphrase from corruption.
         if &data[81..85] != b"DONE" {