diff --git a/checks.d/kafka_consumer.py b/checks.d/kafka_consumer.py
index 792e8ecd27..f10c9172ff 100644
--- a/checks.d/kafka_consumer.py
+++ b/checks.d/kafka_consumer.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     # be too much work to rewrite, so raise an exception here.
     raise Exception('kafka_consumer check requires at least Python 2.6')
 
-from compat import defaultdict
+from compat.defaultdict import defaultdict
 from checks import AgentCheck
 from kafka.client import KafkaClient
 from kafka.common import OffsetRequest
@@ -16,14 +16,17 @@
 
 class KafkaCheck(AgentCheck):
     def check(self, instance):
-        consumer_groups = instance['consumer_groups']
+        consumer_groups = self.read_config(instance, 'consumer_groups',
+                                           cast=self._validate_consumer_groups)
+        zk_connect_str = self.read_config(instance, 'zk_connect_str')
+        kafka_host_ports = self.read_config(instance, 'kafka_connect_str',
+                                            cast=self._parse_connect_str)
 
         # Construct the Zookeeper path pattern
         zk_prefix = instance.get('zk_prefix', '')
         zk_path_tmpl = zk_prefix + '/consumers/%s/offsets/%s/%s'
 
         # Connect to Zookeeper
-        zk_connect_str = instance['zk_connect_str']
         zk_conn = KazooClient(zk_connect_str)
         zk_conn.start()
 
@@ -31,8 +34,8 @@ def check(self, instance):
             # Query Zookeeper for consumer offsets
             consumer_offsets = {}
             topics = defaultdict(set)
-            for consumer_group, topic_partitions in consumer_groups.items():
-                for topic, partitions in topic_partitions.items():
+            for consumer_group, topic_partitions in consumer_groups.iteritems():
+                for topic, partitions in topic_partitions.iteritems():
                     # Remember the topic partitions that we've see so that we can
                     # look up their broker offsets later
                     topics[topic].update(set(partitions))
@@ -54,10 +57,8 @@ def check(self, instance):
                 self.log.exception('Error cleaning up Zookeeper connection')
 
         # Connect to Kafka
-        host_ports = [hp.strip().split(':') for hp
-                      in instance['kafka_connect_str'].split(',')]
-        kafka_host, kafka_port = random.choice(host_ports)
-        kafka_conn = KafkaClient(kafka_host, int(kafka_port))
+        kafka_host, kafka_port = random.choice(kafka_host_ports)
+        kafka_conn = KafkaClient(kafka_host, kafka_port)
 
         try:
             # Query Kafka for the broker offsets
@@ -92,3 +93,36 @@ def check(self, instance):
             self.gauge('kafka.consumer_offset', consumer_offset, tags=tags)
             self.gauge('kafka.consumer_lag', broker_offset - consumer_offset,
                        tags=tags)
+
+    # Private config validation/marshalling functions
+
+    def _validate_consumer_groups(self, val):
+        try:
+            consumer_group, topic_partitions = val.items()[0]
+            assert isinstance(consumer_group, (str, unicode))
+            topic, partitions = topic_partitions.items()[0]
+            assert isinstance(topic, (str, unicode))
+            assert isinstance(partitions, (list, tuple))
+            return val
+        except Exception, e:
+            self.log.exception(e)
+            raise Exception('''The `consumer_groups` value must be a mapping of mappings, like this:
+consumer_groups:
+  myconsumer0: # consumer group name
+    mytopic0: [0, 1] # topic: list of partitions
+  myconsumer1:
+    mytopic0: [0, 1, 2]
+    mytopic1: [10, 12]
+''')
+
+    def _parse_connect_str(self, val):
+        try:
+            host_port_strs = val.split(',')
+            host_ports = []
+            for hp in host_port_strs:
+                host, port = hp.strip().split(':')
+                host_ports.append((host, int(port)))
+            return host_ports
+        except Exception, e:
+            self.log.exception(e)
+            raise Exception('Could not parse %s. Must be in the form of `host0:port0,host1:port1,host2:port2`' % val)
diff --git a/checks/__init__.py b/checks/__init__.py
index 2693b81199..3c971b74f2 100644
--- a/checks/__init__.py
+++ b/checks/__init__.py
@@ -534,6 +534,18 @@ def normalize(self, metric, prefix=None):
         else:
             return name
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def read_config(instance, key, message=None, cast=None):
+        try:
+            val = instance[key]
+        except KeyError:
+            message = message or 'Must provide `%s` value in instance config' % key
+            raise Exception(message)
+
+        if cast is None:
+            return val
+        else:
+            return cast(val)
 
 def agent_formatter(metric, value, timestamp, tags, hostname, device_name=None,
                                                 metric_type=None, interval=None):