diff --git a/doc/node.1 b/doc/node.1
index 9603a91ef03548..1bc4ee04c13c55 100644
--- a/doc/node.1
+++ b/doc/node.1
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ and servers.
 
   --trace-deprecation    show stack traces on deprecations
 
+  --throw-deprecation    throw errors on deprecations
+
   --v8-options           print v8 command line options
 
   --max-stack-size=val   set max v8 stack size (bytes)
diff --git a/lib/util.js b/lib/util.js
index a71876adbd3e21..40b0680b37f275 100644
--- a/lib/util.js
+++ b/lib/util.js
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ exports.deprecate = function(fn, msg) {
   var warned = false;
   function deprecated() {
     if (!warned) {
-      if (process.traceDeprecation) {
+      if (process.throwDeprecation) {
+        throw new Error(msg);
+      } else if (process.traceDeprecation) {
         console.trace(msg);
       } else {
         console.error(msg);
diff --git a/src/node.cc b/src/node.cc
index 279bb0c05b734c..6388a11c911b5d 100644
--- a/src/node.cc
+++ b/src/node.cc
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ static Persistent<String> disposed_symbol;
 static bool print_eval = false;
 static bool force_repl = false;
 static bool trace_deprecation = false;
+static bool throw_deprecation = false;
 static char *eval_string = NULL;
 static int option_end_index = 0;
 static bool use_debug_agent = false;
@@ -2414,6 +2415,11 @@ Handle<Object> SetupProcessObject(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     process->Set(String::NewSymbol("noDeprecation"), True());
   }
 
+  // --throw-deprecation
+  if (throw_deprecation) {
+    process->Set(String::NewSymbol("throwDeprecation"), True());
+  }
+
   // --trace-deprecation
   if (trace_deprecation) {
     process->Set(String::NewSymbol("traceDeprecation"), True());
@@ -2666,6 +2672,9 @@ static void ParseArgs(int argc, char **argv) {
     } else if (strcmp(arg, "--trace-deprecation") == 0) {
       argv[i] = const_cast<char*>("");
       trace_deprecation = true;
+    } else if (strcmp(arg, "--throw-deprecation") == 0) {
+      argv[i] = const_cast<char*>("");
+      throw_deprecation = true;
     } else if (argv[i][0] != '-') {
       break;
     }
diff --git a/src/node.js b/src/node.js
index c0c62e265bdf9a..e37fda2f9202fd 100644
--- a/src/node.js
+++ b/src/node.js
@@ -359,7 +359,9 @@
       var msg = '(node) warning: Recursive process.nextTick detected. ' +
                 'This will break in the next version of node. ' +
                 'Please use setImmediate for recursive deferral.';
-      if (process.traceDeprecation)
+      if (process.throwDeprecation)
+        throw new Error(msg);
+      else if (process.traceDeprecation)
         console.trace(msg);
       else
         console.error(msg);