diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index bbc629af3cc40..773967400cdab 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -150,6 +150,51 @@ endif()
 find_package(ASSIMP 3.0.0 QUIET)
 if(ASSIMP_FOUND)
   message(STATUS "Looking for ASSIMP - ${ASSIMP_VERSION} found")
+
+  # Check for missing symbols in ASSIMP (see #451)
+  include(CheckCXXSourceCompiles)
+  set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES ${ASSIMP_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+  set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES ${ASSIMP_LIBRARIES})
+
+  check_cxx_source_compiles(
+  "
+  #include <assimp/scene.h>
+  int main()
+  {
+    aiScene* scene = new aiScene;
+    delete scene;
+    return 1;
+  }
+  "
+  ASSIMP_AISCENE_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED)
+
+  if(NOT ASSIMP_AISCENE_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED)
+    message(WARNING "Installed ASSIMP ${ASSIMP_VERSION} is missing symbols "
+            "for constructor or destructor of aiScene. DART will use own "
+            "implementation. Please use ASSIMP that fixed this issue.")
+  endif(NOT ASSIMP_AISCENE_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED)
+
+  check_cxx_source_compiles(
+  "
+  #include <assimp/material.h>
+  int main()
+  {
+    aiMaterial* material = new aiMaterial;
+    delete material;
+    return 1;
+  }
+  "
+  ASSIMP_AIMATERIAL_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED)
+
+  if(NOT ASSIMP_AIMATERIAL_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED)
+    message(WARNING "Installed ASSIMP ${ASSIMP_VERSION} is missing symbols "
+            "for constructor or destructor of aiMaterial. DART will use own "
+            "implementation. Please use ASSIMP that fixed this issue.")
+  endif(NOT ASSIMP_AIMATERIAL_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED)
+
+  unset(CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES)
+  unset(CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES)
+
 else()
   if(ASSIMP_VERSION)
     message(SEND_ERROR "Looking for ASSIMP - ${ASSIMP_VERSION} found, ${PROJECT_NAME} requires 3.0.0 or greater.")
@@ -410,7 +455,7 @@ endif()
 #===============================================================================
 execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/case_sensitive_filesystem
                 RESULT_VARIABLE FILESYSTEM_CASE_SENSITIVE_RETURN)
-if (${FILESYSTEM_CASE_SENSITIVE_RETURN} EQUAL 0)
+if(${FILESYSTEM_CASE_SENSITIVE_RETURN} EQUAL 0)
   set(FILESYSTEM_CASE_SENSITIVE TRUE)
 else()
   set(FILESYSTEM_CASE_SENSITIVE FALSE)
diff --git a/dart/config.h.in b/dart/config.h.in
index dfd5fb2ed7996..588c24f91bfc9 100644
--- a/dart/config.h.in
+++ b/dart/config.h.in
@@ -50,4 +50,8 @@
 #define DART_ROOT_PATH "@CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR@/"
 #define DART_DATA_PATH "@CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR@/data/"
 
+// See #451
+#cmakedefine ASSIMP_AISCENE_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED 1
+#cmakedefine ASSIMP_AIMATERIAL_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED 1
+
 #endif // #ifndef DART_CONFIG_H_
diff --git a/dart/dynamics/MeshShape.cpp b/dart/dynamics/MeshShape.cpp
index a78344ecc34b5..0621a1edbb586 100644
--- a/dart/dynamics/MeshShape.cpp
+++ b/dart/dynamics/MeshShape.cpp
@@ -44,14 +44,16 @@
 #include <assimp/postprocess.h>
 #include <assimp/cimport.h>
 
+#include "dart/config.h"
 #include "dart/renderer/RenderInterface.h"
 #include "dart/common/Console.h"
 #include "dart/dynamics/AssimpInputResourceAdaptor.h"
 #include "dart/common/LocalResourceRetriever.h"
 #include "dart/common/Uri.h"
 
-// We define our own constructor for aiScene, because it seems to be missing
-// from the standard assimp library
+#ifndef ASSIMP_AISCENE_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED
+// We define our own constructor and destructor for aiScene, because it seems to
+// be missing from the standard assimp library (see #451)
 aiScene::aiScene()
   : mFlags(0),
     mRootNode(nullptr),
@@ -70,8 +72,6 @@ aiScene::aiScene()
 
 }
 
-// We define our own destructor for aiScene, because it seems to be missing
-// from the standard assimp library
 aiScene::~aiScene()
 {
   delete mRootNode;
@@ -106,9 +106,11 @@ aiScene::~aiScene()
       delete mCameras[a];
   delete[] mCameras;
 }
+#endif  // #ifndef ASSIMP_AISCENE_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED
 
-// We define our own constructor for aiMaterial, because it seems to be missing
-// from the standard assimp library
+// We define our own constructor and destructor for aiMaterial, because it seems
+// to be missing from the standard assimp library (see #451)
+#ifndef ASSIMP_AIMATERIAL_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED
 aiMaterial::aiMaterial()
 {
   mNumProperties = 0;
@@ -118,8 +120,6 @@ aiMaterial::aiMaterial()
     mProperties[i] = nullptr;
 }
 
-// We define our own destructor for aiMaterial, because it seems to be missing
-// from the standard assimp library
 aiMaterial::~aiMaterial()
 {
   for(size_t i=0; i<mNumProperties; ++i)
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ aiMaterial::~aiMaterial()
 
   delete[] mProperties;
 }
+#endif  // #ifndef ASSIMP_AIMATERIAL_CTOR_DTOR_DEFINED
 
 namespace dart {
 namespace dynamics {
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index 6c8efec230e7c..3938bf469407d 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ Build-Depends: debhelper (>= 9),
                libeigen3-dev,
                libfcl-dev (>= 0.2.7),
                libassimp-dev (>= 3),
-               libassimp-dev (<< 3.0~dfsg-4),
                freeglut3-dev,
                libxi-dev,
                libxmu-dev,
@@ -32,7 +31,6 @@ Depends: ${misc:Depends},
          libdart-core5.1 (= ${binary:Version}),
          libeigen3-dev,
          libassimp-dev (>= 3),
-         libassimp-dev (<< 3.0~dfsg-4),
          libfcl-dev,
          libboost-dev (>= 1.54.0.1ubuntu1)
 Description: Dynamic Animation and Robotics Toolkit, core development files