diff --git a/lib/Qpsmtpd/Plugin.pm b/lib/Qpsmtpd/Plugin.pm
index dd8ccf4..379031b 100644
--- a/lib/Qpsmtpd/Plugin.pm
+++ b/lib/Qpsmtpd/Plugin.pm
@@ -349,6 +349,7 @@ sub _register_standard_hooks {
 
 sub db_args {
     my ( $self, %arg ) = @_;
+    $self->validate_db_args(@_);
     $self->{db_args} = \%arg if %arg;
     $self->{db_args}{name} ||= $self->plugin_name;
     return %{ $self->{db_args} };
@@ -356,7 +357,13 @@ sub db_args {
 
 sub db {
     my ( $self, %arg ) = @_;
+    $self->validate_db_args(@_);
     return $self->{db} ||= Qpsmtpd::DB->new( $self->db_args(%arg) );
 }
 
+sub validate_db_args {
+    (my $self, undef, my @args) = @_;
+    die "Invalid db arguments\n" if @args % 2;
+}
+
 1;
diff --git a/t/qpsmtpd-plugin.t b/t/qpsmtpd-plugin.t
index a6596ca..2373c0e 100644
--- a/t/qpsmtpd-plugin.t
+++ b/t/qpsmtpd-plugin.t
@@ -9,12 +9,21 @@ use Test::Qpsmtpd;
 
 use_ok('Qpsmtpd::Plugin');
 
+__validate_db_args();
 __db_args();
 __db();
 __register_hook();
 
 done_testing();
 
+sub __validate_db_args {
+    my $plugin = FakePlugin->new;
+    eval { $plugin->validate_db_args($plugin, testkey => 1) };
+    is( $@, '', 'validate_db_args() does not die on valid data' );
+    eval { $plugin->validate_db_args($plugin, 'bogus') };
+    is( $@, "Invalid db arguments\n", 'validate_db_args() dies on invalid data' );
+}
+
 sub __db_args {
     my $plugin = FakePlugin->new;
     is( keyvals($plugin->db_args),