diff --git a/lib/constructor.js b/lib/constructor.js
index 12617b63..c49394aa 100644
--- a/lib/constructor.js
+++ b/lib/constructor.js
@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@ const debuglog = util.debuglog('sharp');
  *  a String containing the path to an JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG or TIFF image file.
  *  JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG, TIFF or raw pixel image data can be streamed into the object when not present.
  * @param {Object} [options] - if present, is an Object with optional attributes.
+ * @param {Boolean} [options.failOnError=false] - by default apply a "best effort"
+ *  to decode images, even if the data is corrupt or invalid. Set this flag to true
+ *  if you'd rather halt processing and raise an error when loading invalid images.
  * @param {Number} [options.density=72] - integral number representing the DPI for vector images.
  * @param {Object} [options.raw] - describes raw pixel input image data. See `raw()` for pixel ordering.
  * @param {Number} [options.raw.width]
diff --git a/lib/input.js b/lib/input.js
index 3a0f534c..eabd147c 100644
--- a/lib/input.js
+++ b/lib/input.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ const sharp = require('../build/Release/sharp.node');
  * @private
  */
 function _createInputDescriptor (input, inputOptions, containerOptions) {
-  const inputDescriptor = {};
+  const inputDescriptor = { failOnError: false };
   if (is.string(input)) {
     // filesystem
     inputDescriptor.file = input;
@@ -26,6 +26,14 @@ function _createInputDescriptor (input, inputOptions, containerOptions) {
     throw new Error('Unsupported input ' + typeof input);
   }
   if (is.object(inputOptions)) {
+    // Fail on error
+    if (is.defined(inputOptions.failOnError)) {
+      if (is.bool(inputOptions.failOnError)) {
+        inputDescriptor.failOnError = inputOptions.failOnError;
+      } else {
+        throw new Error('Invalid failOnError (boolean) ' + inputOptions.failOnError);
+      }
+    }
     // Density
     if (is.defined(inputOptions.density)) {
       if (is.integer(inputOptions.density) && is.inRange(inputOptions.density, 1, 2400)) {
diff --git a/src/common.cc b/src/common.cc
index 024a163d..cd8dfbe6 100644
--- a/src/common.cc
+++ b/src/common.cc
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ namespace sharp {
       descriptor->buffer = node::Buffer::Data(buffer);
       buffersToPersist.push_back(buffer);
     }
+    descriptor->failOnError = AttrTo<bool>(input, "failOnError");
     // Density for vector-based input
     if (HasAttr(input, "density")) {
       descriptor->density = AttrTo<uint32_t>(input, "density");
@@ -219,7 +220,9 @@ namespace sharp {
         imageType = DetermineImageType(descriptor->buffer, descriptor->bufferLength);
         if (imageType != ImageType::UNKNOWN) {
           try {
-            vips::VOption *option = VImage::option()->set("access", accessMethod);
+            vips::VOption *option = VImage::option()
+              ->set("access", accessMethod)
+              ->set("fail", descriptor->failOnError);
             if (imageType == ImageType::SVG || imageType == ImageType::PDF) {
               option->set("dpi", static_cast<double>(descriptor->density));
             }
@@ -256,7 +259,9 @@ namespace sharp {
         imageType = DetermineImageType(descriptor->file.data());
         if (imageType != ImageType::UNKNOWN) {
           try {
-            vips::VOption *option = VImage::option()->set("access", accessMethod);
+            vips::VOption *option = VImage::option()
+              ->set("access", accessMethod)
+              ->set("fail", descriptor->failOnError);
             if (imageType == ImageType::SVG || imageType == ImageType::PDF) {
               option->set("dpi", static_cast<double>(descriptor->density));
             }
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 96a577d4..874a4f2c 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ namespace sharp {
     std::string name;
     std::string file;
     char *buffer;
+    bool failOnError;
     size_t bufferLength;
     int density;
     int rawChannels;
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ namespace sharp {
 
     InputDescriptor():
       buffer(nullptr),
+      failOnError(FALSE),
       bufferLength(0),
       density(72),
       rawChannels(0),
diff --git a/src/pipeline.cc b/src/pipeline.cc
index 517b10df..cc7ecbba 100644
--- a/src/pipeline.cc
+++ b/src/pipeline.cc
@@ -249,7 +249,9 @@ class PipelineWorker : public Nan::AsyncWorker {
       }
       if (shrink_on_load > 1) {
         // Reload input using shrink-on-load
-        vips::VOption *option = VImage::option()->set("shrink", shrink_on_load);
+        vips::VOption *option = VImage::option()
+          ->set("shrink", shrink_on_load)
+          ->set("fail", baton->input->failOnError);
         if (baton->input->buffer != nullptr) {
           VipsBlob *blob = vips_blob_new(nullptr, baton->input->buffer, baton->input->bufferLength);
           if (inputImageType == ImageType::JPEG) {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/expected/truncated.jpg b/test/fixtures/expected/truncated.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0bd7b808
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/fixtures/expected/truncated.jpg differ
diff --git a/test/fixtures/index.js b/test/fixtures/index.js
index 2876fd87..ee9aaa02 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/index.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/index.js
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ module.exports = {
   inputJpgLarge: getPath('giant-image.jpg'),
   inputJpg320x240: getPath('320x240.jpg'), // http://www.andrewault.net/2010/01/26/create-a-test-pattern-video-with-perl/
   inputJpgOverlayLayer2: getPath('alpha-layer-2-ink.jpg'),
+  inputJpgTruncated: getPath('truncated.jpg'), // head -c 10000 2569067123_aca715a2ee_o.jpg > truncated.jpg
 
   inputPng: getPath('50020484-00001.png'), // http://c.searspartsdirect.com/lis_png/PLDM/50020484-00001.png
   inputPngWithTransparency: getPath('blackbug.png'), // public domain
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@ module.exports = {
   inputPngAlphaPremultiplicationLarge: getPath('alpha-premultiply-2048x1536-paper.png'),
   inputPngBooleanNoAlpha: getPath('bandbool.png'),
   inputPngTestJoinChannel: getPath('testJoinChannel.png'),
+  inputPngTruncated: getPath('truncated.png'), // gm convert 2569067123_aca715a2ee_o.jpg -resize 320x240 saw.png ; head -c 10000 saw.png > truncated.png
 
   inputWebP: getPath('4.webp'), // http://www.gstatic.com/webp/gallery/4.webp
   inputWebPWithTransparency: getPath('5_webp_a.webp'), // http://www.gstatic.com/webp/gallery3/5_webp_a.webp
diff --git a/test/fixtures/truncated.jpg b/test/fixtures/truncated.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2a3fe7a7
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/fixtures/truncated.jpg differ
diff --git a/test/fixtures/truncated.png b/test/fixtures/truncated.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ab39b69
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/fixtures/truncated.png differ
diff --git a/test/unit/failOnError.js b/test/unit/failOnError.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b6a2957f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/failOnError.js
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const assert = require('assert');
+
+const sharp = require('../../');
+const fixtures = require('../fixtures');
+
+describe('failOnError', function () {
+  it('handles truncated JPEG by default', function (done) {
+    sharp(fixtures.inputJpgTruncated)
+      .resize(320, 240)
+      // .toFile(fixtures.expected('truncated.jpg'), done);
+      .toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {
+        if (err) throw err;
+        assert.strictEqual('jpeg', info.format);
+        assert.strictEqual(320, info.width);
+        assert.strictEqual(240, info.height);
+        fixtures.assertSimilar(fixtures.expected('truncated.jpg'), data, done);
+      });
+  });
+
+  it('handles truncated PNG by default', function (done) {
+    sharp(fixtures.inputPngTruncated)
+      .resize(320, 240)
+      // .toFile(fixtures.expected('truncated.png'), done);
+      .toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {
+        if (err) throw err;
+        assert.strictEqual('png', info.format);
+        assert.strictEqual(320, info.width);
+        assert.strictEqual(240, info.height);
+        done();
+      });
+  });
+
+  it('rejects invalid values', function () {
+    assert.doesNotThrow(function () {
+      sharp(fixtures.inputJpg, { failOnError: true });
+    });
+
+    assert.throws(function () {
+      sharp(fixtures.inputJpg, { failOnError: 'zoinks' });
+    });
+
+    assert.throws(function () {
+      sharp(fixtures.inputJpg, { failOnError: 1 });
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('returns errors to callback for truncated JPEG when failOnError is set', function (done) {
+    sharp(fixtures.inputJpgTruncated, { failOnError: true }).toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {
+      assert.ok(err.message.includes('VipsJpeg: Premature end of JPEG file'), err);
+      assert.equal(data, null);
+      assert.equal(info, null);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('returns errors to callback for truncated PNG when failOnError is set', function (done) {
+    sharp(fixtures.inputPngTruncated, { failOnError: true }).toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {
+      assert.ok(err.message.includes('vipspng: libpng read error'), err);
+      assert.equal(data, null);
+      assert.equal(info, null);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('rejects promises for truncated JPEG when failOnError is set', function (done) {
+    sharp(fixtures.inputJpgTruncated, { failOnError: true })
+      .toBuffer()
+      .then(() => {
+        throw new Error('Expected rejection');
+      })
+      .catch(err => {
+        done(err.message.includes('VipsJpeg: Premature end of JPEG file') ? undefined : err);
+      });
+  });
+});