diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a9e912518..9cfa9d2ba 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ MARK_AS_ADVANCED(OSG_DISABLE_MSVC_WARNINGS)
 
 OPTION(OSG_PROVIDE_READFILE "Set to ON for include/osgDB/ReadFile to provide the osgDB::read*File(() methods. " ON)
 OPTION(OSG_USE_REF_PTR_IMPLICIT_OUTPUT_CONVERSION "Set to ON to use the ref_ptr<> T* operator() output conversion. " ON)
-
+OPTION(OSG_USE_REF_PTR_SAFE_DEREFERENCE "Set to ON to throw an exception whenever ref_ptr<> is dereferenced or called. " ON)
 
 # Map the OPENGL_PROFILE to OSG_GL*_AVAILABLE settings
 SET(OPENGL_PROFILE "GL2" CACHE STRING "OpenGL Profile to use, choose from GL1, GL2, GL3, GLES1, GLES2, GLES3")
diff --git a/include/osg/ref_ptr b/include/osg/ref_ptr
index f80b3bbd9..aff5f8311 100644
--- a/include/osg/ref_ptr
+++ b/include/osg/ref_ptr
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@
 #define OSG_REF_PTR 1
 
 #include <osg/Config>
+#ifdef OSG_USE_REF_PTR_SAFE_DEREFERENCE
+#include <typeinfo>
+#include <stdexcept>
+#endif
 
 namespace osg {
 
@@ -87,6 +91,27 @@ class ref_ptr
         operator unspecified_bool_type() const { return valid()? &ref_ptr::_ptr : 0; }
 #endif
 
+        T& operator*() const
+        {
+#ifdef OSG_USE_REF_PTR_SAFE_DEREFERENCE
+            if( !_ptr ) {
+                // pointer is invalid, so throw an exception
+                throw std::runtime_error(std::string("could not dereference invalid osg pointer ") + std::string(typeid(T).name()));
+            }
+#endif
+            return *_ptr;
+        }
+        T* operator->() const
+        {
+#ifdef OSG_USE_REF_PTR_SAFE_DEREFERENCE
+            if( !_ptr ) {
+                // pointer is invalid, so throw an exception.
+                throw std::runtime_error(std::string("could not call invalid osg pointer ") + std::string(typeid(T).name()));
+            }
+#endif
+            return _ptr;
+        }
+
         T& operator*() const { return *_ptr; }
         T* operator->() const { return _ptr; }
         T* get() const { return _ptr; }
diff --git a/src/osg/Config.in b/src/osg/Config.in
index 245af70bb..5411cf7c8 100644
--- a/src/osg/Config.in
+++ b/src/osg/Config.in
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #cmakedefine OSG_USE_FLOAT_BOUNDINGSPHERE
 #cmakedefine OSG_USE_FLOAT_BOUNDINGBOX
 #cmakedefine OSG_USE_REF_PTR_IMPLICIT_OUTPUT_CONVERSION
+#cmakedefine OSG_USE_REF_PTR_SAFE_DEREFERENCE
 #cmakedefine OSG_USE_UTF8_FILENAME
 #cmakedefine OSG_DISABLE_MSVC_WARNINGS
 #cmakedefine OSG_PROVIDE_READFILE