diff --git a/doc/zmq_setsockopt.txt b/doc/zmq_setsockopt.txt
index 32015e56..68a5ffc6 100644
--- a/doc/zmq_setsockopt.txt
+++ b/doc/zmq_setsockopt.txt
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 *int zmq_setsockopt (void '*socket', int 'option_name', const void '*option_value', size_t 'option_len');*
 
-Caution: All options, with the exception of ZMQ_SUBSCRIBE, ZMQ_UNSUBSCRIBE and
-ZMQ_LINGER, only take effect for subsequent socket bind/connects.
+Caution: All options, with the exception of ZMQ_SUBSCRIBE, ZMQ_UNSUBSCRIBE,
+ZMQ_LINGER and ZMQ_FAIL_UNROUTABLE only take effect for subsequent socket 
+bind/connects.
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
@@ -348,6 +349,21 @@ Default value:: 1 (true)
 Applicable socket types:: all, when using TCP transports.
 
 
+ZMQ_FAIL_UNROUTABLE: Set unroutable message behavior
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Sets the behavior when an unroutable message is encountered in a 'ZMQ_ROUTER'
+socket. A value of `0` is the default behavior when the message is silently
+dropped, while a value of `1` forces the sending to fail with a 'EHOSTUNREACH'
+error code.
+
+[horizontal]
+Option value type:: int
+Option value unit:: boolean
+Default value:: 0 (false)
+Applicable socket types:: ZMQ_ROUTER
+
+
 RETURN VALUE
 ------------
 The _zmq_setsockopt()_ function shall return zero if successful. Otherwise it
diff --git a/include/zmq.h b/include/zmq.h
index cc5db4ee..8bc3d901 100644
--- a/include/zmq.h
+++ b/include/zmq.h
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ ZMQ_EXPORT int zmq_term (zmq_ctx_t context);
 #define ZMQ_SNDTIMEO 28
 #define ZMQ_IPV4ONLY 31
 #define ZMQ_LAST_ENDPOINT 32
+#define ZMQ_FAIL_UNROUTABLE 33
 
 /*  Message options                                                           */
 #define ZMQ_MORE 1
diff --git a/src/xrep.cpp b/src/xrep.cpp
index e5845061..c7e82b15 100644
--- a/src/xrep.cpp
+++ b/src/xrep.cpp
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ zmq::xrep_t::xrep_t (class ctx_t *parent_, uint32_t tid_) :
     more_in (false),
     current_out (NULL),
     more_out (false),
-    next_peer_id (generate_random ())
+    next_peer_id (generate_random ()),
+    fail_unroutable(false)
 {
     options.type = ZMQ_XREP;
 
@@ -77,6 +78,24 @@ void zmq::xrep_t::xattach_pipe (pipe_t *pipe_, bool icanhasall_)
     fq.attach (pipe_);    
 }
 
+int zmq::xrep_t::xsetsockopt (int option_, const void *optval_,
+    size_t optvallen_)
+{
+    if (option_ != ZMQ_FAIL_UNROUTABLE) {
+        errno = EINVAL;
+        return -1;
+    }
+    
+    if(sizeof(optvallen_) != sizeof(int)) {
+        errno = EINVAL;
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    fail_unroutable = *((const int*) optval_);
+    
+    return 0;
+}
+
 void zmq::xrep_t::xterminated (pipe_t *pipe_)
 {
     fq.terminated (pipe_);
@@ -118,6 +137,8 @@ int zmq::xrep_t::xsend (msg_t *msg_, int flags_)
     if (!more_out) {
         zmq_assert (!current_out);
 
+        int retval = 0;
+
         //  If we have malformed message (prefix with no subsequent message)
         //  then just silently ignore it.
         //  TODO: The connections should be killed instead.
@@ -126,7 +147,8 @@ int zmq::xrep_t::xsend (msg_t *msg_, int flags_)
             more_out = true;
 
             //  Find the pipe associated with the identity stored in the prefix.
-            //  If there's no such pipe just silently ignore the message.
+            //  If there's no such pipe just silently ignore the message, unless
+            //  fail_unreachable is set.
             blob_t identity ((unsigned char*) msg_->data (), msg_->size ());
             outpipes_t::iterator it = outpipes.find (identity);
 
@@ -142,6 +164,9 @@ int zmq::xrep_t::xsend (msg_t *msg_, int flags_)
                 }
                 rc = empty.close ();
                 errno_assert (rc == 0);
+            } else if(fail_unroutable) {
+                more_out = false;
+                retval = EHOSTUNREACH;
             }
 
         }
@@ -150,7 +175,7 @@ int zmq::xrep_t::xsend (msg_t *msg_, int flags_)
         errno_assert (rc == 0);
         rc = msg_->init ();
         errno_assert (rc == 0);
-        return 0;
+        return retval;
     }
 
     //  Check whether this is the last part of the message.
diff --git a/src/xrep.hpp b/src/xrep.hpp
index 414ce7a4..6377c557 100644
--- a/src/xrep.hpp
+++ b/src/xrep.hpp
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ namespace zmq
 
         //  Overloads of functions from socket_base_t.
         void xattach_pipe (zmq::pipe_t *pipe_, bool icanhasall_);
+        int xsetsockopt (int option_, const void *optval_, size_t optvallen_);
         int xsend (msg_t *msg_, int flags_);
         int xrecv (msg_t *msg_, int flags_);
         bool xhas_in ();
@@ -100,6 +101,9 @@ namespace zmq
         //  algorithm. This value is the next ID to use (if not used already).
         uint32_t next_peer_id;
 
+        // If true, fail on unroutable messages instead of silently dropping them.
+        bool fail_unroutable;
+
         xrep_t (const xrep_t&);
         const xrep_t &operator = (const xrep_t&);
     };