diff --git a/include/linuxdeploy/util/assert.h b/include/linuxdeploy/util/assert.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e92b7ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/linuxdeploy/util/assert.h
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#pragma once
+
+// system headers
+#include <stdexcept>
+
+namespace linuxdeploy {
+    namespace util {
+        namespace assert {
+            template<typename T>
+            void assert_not_empty(T container) {
+                if (container.empty()) {
+                    throw std::invalid_argument{"container must not be empty"};
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}