diff --git a/core/commands/get.go b/core/commands/get.go
index b7ef84aaa..3e6205f9f 100644
--- a/core/commands/get.go
+++ b/core/commands/get.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"archive/tar"
 	"bytes"
 	"compress/gzip"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
@@ -22,6 +23,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/Godeps/_workspace/src/github.com/cheggaaa/pb"
 )
 
+var ErrInvalidCompressionLevel = errors.New("Compression level must be between 1 and 9")
+
 var GetCmd = &cmds.Command{
 	Helptext: cmds.HelpText{
 		Tagline: "Download IPFS objects",
@@ -47,7 +50,14 @@ may also specify the level of compression by specifying '-l=<1-9>'.
 		cmds.BoolOption("compress", "C", "Compress the output with GZIP compression"),
 		cmds.IntOption("compression-level", "l", "The level of compression (an int between 1 and 9)"),
 	},
+	PreRun: getCheckOptions,
 	Run: func(req cmds.Request, res cmds.Response) {
+		err := getCheckOptions(req)
+		if err != nil {
+			res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrClient)
+			return
+		}
+
 		node, err := req.Context().GetNode()
 		if err != nil {
 			res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrNormal)
@@ -62,6 +72,11 @@ may also specify the level of compression by specifying '-l=<1-9>'.
 			} else {
 				compressionLevel = gzip.NoCompression
 			}
+		} else {
+			if compressionLevel < 1 || compressionLevel > 9 {
+				res.SetError(ErrInvalidCompressionLevel, cmds.ErrClient)
+				return
+			}
 		}
 
 		reader, err := get(node, req.Arguments()[0], compressionLevel)
@@ -217,6 +232,14 @@ may also specify the level of compression by specifying '-l=<1-9>'.
 	},
 }
 
+func getCheckOptions(req cmds.Request) error {
+	compressionLevel, found, _ := req.Option("compression-level").Int()
+	if found && (compressionLevel < 1 || compressionLevel > 9) {
+		return ErrInvalidCompressionLevel
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func get(node *core.IpfsNode, path string, compression int) (io.Reader, error) {
 	buf := NewBufReadWriter()