diff --git a/src/JsonSchema/Constraints/BaseConstraint.php b/src/JsonSchema/Constraints/BaseConstraint.php
index bc608f6d..951f2fd2 100644
--- a/src/JsonSchema/Constraints/BaseConstraint.php
+++ b/src/JsonSchema/Constraints/BaseConstraint.php
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
 namespace JsonSchema\Constraints;
 
 use JsonSchema\ConstraintError;
+use JsonSchema\Constraints\TypeCheck\LooseTypeCheck;
 use JsonSchema\Entity\JsonPointer;
+use JsonSchema\Exception\InvalidArgumentException;
 use JsonSchema\Exception\ValidationException;
 
 /**
@@ -89,4 +91,25 @@ public function reset()
     {
         $this->errors = array();
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Recursively cast an associative array to an object
+     *
+     * @param array $array
+     *
+     * @return object
+     */
+    public static function arrayToObjectRecursive($array)
+    {
+        $json = json_encode($array);
+        if (json_last_error() !== \JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
+            $message = 'Unable to encode schema array as JSON';
+            if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.5.0', '>=')) {
+                $message .= ': ' . json_last_error_msg();
+            }
+            throw new InvalidArgumentException($message);
+        }
+
+        return json_decode($json);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/JsonSchema/Validator.php b/src/JsonSchema/Validator.php
index d479103c..0a9a8418 100644
--- a/src/JsonSchema/Validator.php
+++ b/src/JsonSchema/Validator.php
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ public function validate(&$value, $schema = null, $checkMode = null)
         // reset errors prior to validation
         $this->reset();
 
+        // make sure $schema is an object
+        if (is_array($schema)) {
+            $schema = self::arrayToObjectRecursive($schema);
+        }
+
         // set checkMode
         $initialCheckMode = $this->factory->getConfig();
         if ($checkMode !== null) {
diff --git a/tests/ValidatorTest.php b/tests/ValidatorTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..73688537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ValidatorTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace JsonSchema\Tests;
+
+use JsonSchema\Constraints\Constraint;
+use JsonSchema\Validator;
+
+class ValidatorTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    public function testValidateWithAssocSchema()
+    {
+        $schema = json_decode('{"properties":{"propertyOne":{"type":"array","items":[{"type":"string"}]}}}', true);
+        $data = json_decode('{"propertyOne":[42]}', true);
+
+        $validator = new Validator();
+        $validator->validate($data, $schema);
+
+        $this->assertFalse($validator->isValid(), 'Validation succeeded, but should have failed.');
+    }
+
+    public function testBadAssocSchemaInput()
+    {
+        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.5.0', '<')) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('PHP versions < 5.5.0 trigger an error on json_encode issues');
+        }
+        if (defined('HHVM_VERSION')) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('HHVM has no problem with encoding resources');
+        }
+        $schema = array('propertyOne' => fopen('php://stdout', 'w'));
+        $data = json_decode('{"propertyOne":[42]}', true);
+
+        $validator = new Validator();
+
+        $this->setExpectedException('\JsonSchema\Exception\InvalidArgumentException');
+        $validator->validate($data, $schema);
+    }
+
+    public function testCheck()
+    {
+        $schema = json_decode('{"type":"string"}');
+        $data = json_decode('42');
+
+        $validator = new Validator();
+        $validator->check($data, $schema);
+
+        $this->assertFalse($validator->isValid(), 'Validation succeeded, but should have failed.');
+    }
+
+    public function testCoerce()
+    {
+        $schema = json_decode('{"type":"integer"}');
+        $data = json_decode('"42"');
+
+        $validator = new Validator();
+        $validator->coerce($data, $schema);
+
+        $this->assertTrue($validator->isValid(), 'Validation failed, but should have succeeded.');
+    }
+}