diff --git a/lib/parse.js b/lib/parse.js
index ba05d27c..93144343 100644
--- a/lib/parse.js
+++ b/lib/parse.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var utils = require('./utils');
+var ValueError = require('./value-error');
 
 var has = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;
 var isArray = Array.isArray;
@@ -218,6 +219,10 @@ var normalizeParseOptions = function normalizeParseOptions(opts) {
         throw new TypeError('`decodeDotInKeys` option can only be `true` or `false`, when provided');
     }
 
+    if (opts.allowDots === false && opts.decodeDotInKeys === true) {
+        throw new ValueError('Provided combination is not valid: allowDots=false & decodeDotInKeys=true');
+    }
+
     if (opts.decoder !== null && typeof opts.decoder !== 'undefined' && typeof opts.decoder !== 'function') {
         throw new TypeError('Decoder has to be a function.');
     }
diff --git a/lib/stringify.js b/lib/stringify.js
index d4d7be65..34a78547 100644
--- a/lib/stringify.js
+++ b/lib/stringify.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 var getSideChannel = require('side-channel');
 var utils = require('./utils');
 var formats = require('./formats');
+var ValueError = require('./value-error');
 var has = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;
 
 var arrayPrefixGenerators = {
@@ -215,6 +216,10 @@ var normalizeStringifyOptions = function normalizeStringifyOptions(opts) {
         throw new TypeError('Encoder has to be a function.');
     }
 
+    if (opts.allowDots === true && opts.encodeDotInKeys === false) {
+        throw new ValueError('Provided combination is not valid: allowDots=true & encodeDotInKeys=false');
+    }
+
     var charset = opts.charset || defaults.charset;
     if (typeof opts.charset !== 'undefined' && opts.charset !== 'utf-8' && opts.charset !== 'iso-8859-1') {
         throw new TypeError('The charset option must be either utf-8, iso-8859-1, or undefined');
diff --git a/lib/value-error.js b/lib/value-error.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..26f1e5ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/value-error.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+'use strict';
+
+var ValueError = function ValueError(message) {
+    var error = new Error(message);
+    error.name = 'ValueError';
+    return error;
+};
+
+module.exports = ValueError;
diff --git a/test/parse.js b/test/parse.js
index 47cbc428..41ccffa3 100644
--- a/test/parse.js
+++ b/test/parse.js
@@ -82,11 +82,6 @@ test('parse()', function (t) {
             { 'name%2Eobj.first': 'John', 'name%2Eobj.last': 'Doe' },
             'with allowDots false and decodeDotInKeys false'
         );
-        st.deepEqual(
-            qs.parse('name%252Eobj.first=John&name%252Eobj.last=Doe', { allowDots: false, decodeDotInKeys: true }),
-            { 'name%2Eobj.first': 'John', 'name%2Eobj.last': 'Doe' },
-            'with allowDots false and decodeDotInKeys true'
-        );
 
         st.deepEqual(
             qs.parse('name%252Eobj.first=John&name%252Eobj.last=Doe', { allowDots: true, decodeDotInKeys: false }),
@@ -107,14 +102,6 @@ test('parse()', function (t) {
             { 'name%2Eobj%2Esubobject.first%2Egodly%2Ename': 'John', 'name%2Eobj%2Esubobject.last': 'Doe' },
             'with allowDots false and decodeDotInKeys false'
         );
-        st.deepEqual(
-            qs.parse(
-                'name%252Eobj%252Esubobject.first%252Egodly%252Ename=John&name%252Eobj%252Esubobject.last=Doe',
-                { allowDots: false, decodeDotInKeys: true }
-            ),
-            { 'name%2Eobj%2Esubobject.first%2Egodly%2Ename': 'John', 'name%2Eobj%2Esubobject.last': 'Doe' },
-            'with allowDots false and decodeDotInKeys true'
-        );
         st.deepEqual(
             qs.parse(
                 'name%252Eobj%252Esubobject.first%252Egodly%252Ename=John&name%252Eobj%252Esubobject.last=Doe',
@@ -135,7 +122,7 @@ test('parse()', function (t) {
         st.end();
     });
 
-    t.test('should throw when decodeDotKeys is not of type boolean', function (st) {
+    t.test('should throw when decodeDotInKeys is not of type boolean', function (st) {
         st['throws'](
             function () { qs.parse('foo[]&bar=baz', { decodeDotInKeys: 'foobar' }); },
             TypeError
@@ -158,6 +145,22 @@ test('parse()', function (t) {
         st.end();
     });
 
+    t.test('should throw when allowDots is false and decodeDotInKeys is true', function (st) {
+        st['throws'](
+            function () {
+                qs.parse(
+                    'name%252Eobj.first=John&name%252Eobj.last=Doe',
+                    { allowDots: false, decodeDotInKeys: true }
+                );
+            }, {
+                name: 'ValueError',
+                message: 'Provided combination is not valid: allowDots=false & decodeDotInKeys=true'
+            }
+        );
+
+        st.end();
+    });
+
     t.test('allows empty arrays in obj values', function (st) {
         st.deepEqual(qs.parse('foo[]&bar=baz', { allowEmptyArrays: true }), { foo: [], bar: 'baz' });
         st.deepEqual(qs.parse('foo[]&bar=baz', { allowEmptyArrays: false }), { foo: [''], bar: 'baz' });
diff --git a/test/stringify.js b/test/stringify.js
index 55eed2be..2ab9c3be 100644
--- a/test/stringify.js
+++ b/test/stringify.js
@@ -73,14 +73,6 @@ test('stringify()', function (t) {
             'name.obj%5Bfirst%5D=John&name.obj%5Blast%5D=Doe',
             'with allowDots false and encodeDotInKeys false'
         );
-        st.equal(
-            qs.stringify(
-                { 'name.obj': { first: 'John', last: 'Doe' } },
-                { allowDots: true, encodeDotInKeys: false }
-            ),
-            'name.obj.first=John&name.obj.last=Doe',
-            'with allowDots true and encodeDotInKeys false'
-        );
         st.equal(
             qs.stringify(
                 { 'name.obj': { first: 'John', last: 'Doe' } },
@@ -106,14 +98,6 @@ test('stringify()', function (t) {
             'name.obj.subobject%5Bfirst.godly.name%5D=John&name.obj.subobject%5Blast%5D=Doe',
             'with allowDots false and encodeDotInKeys false'
         );
-        st.equal(
-            qs.stringify(
-                { 'name.obj.subobject': { 'first.godly.name': 'John', last: 'Doe' } },
-                { allowDots: true, encodeDotInKeys: false }
-            ),
-            'name.obj.subobject.first.godly.name=John&name.obj.subobject.last=Doe',
-            'with allowDots true and encodeDotInKeys false'
-        );
         st.equal(
             qs.stringify(
                 { 'name.obj.subobject': { 'first.godly.name': 'John', last: 'Doe' } },
@@ -174,6 +158,22 @@ test('stringify()', function (t) {
         st.end();
     });
 
+    t.test('should throw when allowDots is true and encodeDotInKeys is false', function (st) {
+        st['throws'](
+            function () {
+                qs.stringify(
+                    { 'name.obj': { first: 'John', last: 'Doe' } },
+                    { allowDots: true, encodeDotInKeys: false }
+                );
+            }, {
+                message: 'Provided combination is not valid: allowDots=true & encodeDotInKeys=false',
+                name: 'ValueError'
+            }
+        );
+
+        st.end();
+    });
+
     t.test('adds query prefix', function (st) {
         st.equal(qs.stringify({ a: 'b' }, { addQueryPrefix: true }), '?a=b');
         st.end();