diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 97e3da19..b9858cbd 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -144,6 +144,17 @@ else
     libzmq_pedantic="yes"
 fi
 
+AC_ARG_WITH([militant],
+            [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-militant],
+                            [Enable militant API assertions])],
+            [zmq_militant="yes"],
+            [])
+
+if test "x$zmq_militant" = "xyes"; then
+    AC_DEFINE(ZMQ_ACT_MILITANT, 1, [Enable militant API assertions])
+fi
+
+
 # By default compiling with -Werror except OSX.
 libzmq_werror="yes"
 
diff --git a/src/options.cpp b/src/options.cpp
index e569710b..c69c0fed 100644
--- a/src/options.cpp
+++ b/src/options.cpp
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ int zmq::options_t::setsockopt (int option_, const void *optval_,
 {
     bool is_int = (optvallen_ == sizeof (int));
     int value = is_int? *((int *) optval_): 0;
+    bool malformed = true;          //  Did caller pass a bad option value?
 
     switch (option_) {
         case ZMQ_SNDHWM:
@@ -440,10 +441,21 @@ int zmq::options_t::setsockopt (int option_, const void *optval_,
             }
             break;
 
-
         default:
+            //  There are valid scenarios for probing with unknown socket option
+            //  values, e.g. to check if security is enabled or not. This will not
+            //  provoke a militant assert. However, passing bad values to a valid
+            //  socket option will, if ZMQ_ACT_MILITANT is defined.
+            malformed = false;
             break;
     }
+#if defined (ZMQ_ACT_MILITANT)
+    //  There is no valid use case for passing an error back to the application
+    //  when it sent malformed arguments to a socket option. Use ./configure
+    //  --with-militant to enable this checking.
+    if (malformed)
+        zmq_assert (false);
+#endif
     errno = EINVAL;
     return -1;
 }
@@ -517,6 +529,7 @@ int zmq::options_t::getsockopt (int option_, void *optval_, size_t *optvallen_)
                 return 0;
             }
             break;
+            
         case ZMQ_TYPE:
             if (is_int) {
                 *value = type;
@@ -757,9 +770,7 @@ int zmq::options_t::getsockopt (int option_, void *optval_, size_t *optvallen_)
                 return 0;
             }
             break;
-
-
-	}
+    }
     errno = EINVAL;
     return -1;
 }