diff --git a/etree.go b/etree.go
index c3bb746..07e1a6d 100644
--- a/etree.go
+++ b/etree.go
@@ -50,6 +50,13 @@ type ReadSettings struct {
 	// preserve them instead of keeping only one. Default: false.
 	PreserveDuplicateAttrs bool
 
+	// ValidateInput forces all ReadFrom* methods to validate that the
+	// provided input is composed of well-formed XML before processing it. If
+	// invalid XML is detected, the ReadFrom* methods return an error. Because
+	// this option requires the input to be processed twice, it incurs a
+	// significant performance penalty. Default: false.
+	ValidateInput bool
+
 	// Entity to be passed to standard xml.Decoder. Default: nil.
 	Entity map[string]string
 
@@ -66,9 +73,6 @@ func newReadSettings() ReadSettings {
 		CharsetReader: func(label string, input io.Reader) (io.Reader, error) {
 			return input, nil
 		},
-		Permissive:    false,
-		PreserveCData: false,
-		Entity:        nil,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -353,6 +357,11 @@ func (d *Document) SetRoot(e *Element) {
 // ReadFrom reads XML from the reader 'r' into this document. The function
 // returns the number of bytes read and any error encountered.
 func (d *Document) ReadFrom(r io.Reader) (n int64, err error) {
+	if d.ReadSettings.ValidateInput {
+		if err := validateXML(r, d.ReadSettings); err != nil {
+			return 0, err
+		}
+	}
 	return d.Element.readFrom(r, d.ReadSettings)
 }
 
@@ -380,6 +389,35 @@ func (d *Document) ReadFromString(s string) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+// validateXML determines if the data read from the reader 'r' contains
+// well-formed XML according to the rules set by the go xml package.
+func validateXML(r io.Reader, settings ReadSettings) error {
+	dec := newDecoder(r, settings)
+	err := dec.Decode(new(interface{}))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// If there are any trailing tokens after unmarshalling with Decode(),
+	// then the XML input didn't terminate properly.
+	_, err = dec.Token()
+	if err == io.EOF {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return ErrXML
+}
+
+// newDecoder creates an XML decoder for the reader 'r' configured using
+// the provided read settings.
+func newDecoder(r io.Reader, settings ReadSettings) *xml.Decoder {
+	d := xml.NewDecoder(r)
+	d.CharsetReader = settings.CharsetReader
+	d.Strict = !settings.Permissive
+	d.Entity = settings.Entity
+	d.AutoClose = settings.AutoClose
+	return d
+}
+
 // WriteTo serializes the document out to the writer 'w'. The function returns
 // the number of bytes written and any error encountered.
 func (d *Document) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (n int64, err error) {
@@ -835,10 +873,7 @@ func (e *Element) readFrom(ri io.Reader, settings ReadSettings) (n int64, err er
 		r = newXmlSimpleReader(ri)
 	}
 
-	dec := xml.NewDecoder(r)
-	dec.CharsetReader = settings.CharsetReader
-	dec.Strict = !settings.Permissive
-	dec.Entity = settings.Entity
+	dec := newDecoder(r, settings)
 
 	var stack stack
 	stack.push(e)
diff --git a/etree_test.go b/etree_test.go
index 11c0eea..57c991e 100644
--- a/etree_test.go
+++ b/etree_test.go
@@ -1524,3 +1524,35 @@ func TestNotNil(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("got:\n" + got)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestValidateInput(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		s   string
+		err string
+	}{
+		{`<root>x</root>`, ""},
+		{`<root/>`, ""},
+		{`<root>x`, `XML syntax error on line 1: unexpected EOF`},
+		{`</root><root>`, `XML syntax error on line 1: unexpected end element </root>`},
+		{`<>`, `XML syntax error on line 1: expected element name after <`},
+		{`<root>x</root>trailing`, "etree: invalid XML format"},
+		{`<root>x</root><`, "etree: invalid XML format"},
+		{`<root><child>x</child></root1>`, `XML syntax error on line 1: element <root> closed by </root1>`},
+	}
+
+	for i, test := range tests {
+		doc := NewDocument()
+		doc.ReadSettings.ValidateInput = true
+		err := doc.ReadFromString(test.s)
+		if err == nil {
+			if test.err != "" {
+				t.Errorf("etree: test #%d:\nExpected error:\n  %s\nReceived error:\n  nil", i, test.err)
+			}
+		} else {
+			te := err.Error()
+			if te != test.err {
+				t.Errorf("etree: test #%d:\nExpected error;\n  %s\nReceived error:\n  %s", i, test.err, te)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}