diff --git a/lib/child_process.js b/lib/child_process.js
index 2f5dda870d66d7..03956a999e1141 100644
--- a/lib/child_process.js
+++ b/lib/child_process.js
@@ -315,6 +315,9 @@ function _convertCustomFds(options) {
 function normalizeSpawnArguments(file /*, args, options*/) {
   var args, options;
 
+  if (typeof file !== 'string' || file.length === 0)
+    throw new TypeError('"file" argument must be a non-empty string');
+
   if (Array.isArray(arguments[1])) {
     args = arguments[1].slice(0);
     options = arguments[2];
@@ -331,6 +334,47 @@ function normalizeSpawnArguments(file /*, args, options*/) {
   else if (options === null || typeof options !== 'object')
     throw new TypeError('"options" argument must be an object');
 
+  // Validate the cwd, if present.
+  if (options.cwd != null &&
+      typeof options.cwd !== 'string') {
+    throw new TypeError('"cwd" must be a string');
+  }
+
+  // Validate detached, if present.
+  if (options.detached != null &&
+      typeof options.detached !== 'boolean') {
+    throw new TypeError('"detached" must be a boolean');
+  }
+
+  // Validate the uid, if present.
+  if (options.uid != null && !Number.isInteger(options.uid)) {
+    throw new TypeError('"uid" must be an integer');
+  }
+
+  // Validate the gid, if present.
+  if (options.gid != null && !Number.isInteger(options.gid)) {
+    throw new TypeError('"gid" must be an integer');
+  }
+
+  // Validate the shell, if present.
+  if (options.shell != null &&
+      typeof options.shell !== 'boolean' &&
+      typeof options.shell !== 'string') {
+    throw new TypeError('"shell" must be a boolean or string');
+  }
+
+  // Validate argv0, if present.
+  if (options.argv0 != null &&
+      typeof options.argv0 !== 'string') {
+    throw new TypeError('"argv0" must be a string');
+  }
+
+  // Validate windowsVerbatimArguments, if present.
+  if (options.windowsVerbatimArguments != null &&
+      typeof options.windowsVerbatimArguments !== 'boolean') {
+    throw new TypeError('"windowsVerbatimArguments" must be a boolean');
+  }
+
   // Make a shallow copy so we don't clobber the user's options object.
   options = Object.assign({}, options);
 
@@ -420,13 +464,33 @@ function spawnSync(/*file, args, options*/) {
 
   debug('spawnSync', opts.args, options);
 
+  // Validate the timeout, if present.
+  if (options.timeout != null &&
+      !(Number.isInteger(options.timeout) && options.timeout >= 0)) {
+    throw new TypeError('"timeout" must be an unsigned integer');
+  }
+
+  // Validate maxBuffer, if present.
+  if (options.maxBuffer != null &&
+      !(Number.isInteger(options.maxBuffer) && options.maxBuffer >= 0)) {
+    throw new TypeError('"maxBuffer" must be an unsigned integer');
+  }
+
   options.file = opts.file;
   options.args = opts.args;
   options.envPairs = opts.envPairs;
 
-  if (options.killSignal)
+  // Validate the kill signal, if present.
+  if (typeof options.killSignal === 'string' ||
+      typeof options.killSignal === 'number') {
     options.killSignal = lookupSignal(options.killSignal);
 
+    if (options.killSignal === 0)
+      throw new RangeError('"killSignal" cannot be 0');
+  } else if (options.killSignal != null) {
+    throw new TypeError('"killSignal" must be a string or number');
+  }
+
   options.stdio = _validateStdio(options.stdio || 'pipe', true).stdio;
 
   if (options.input) {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawn-typeerror.js b/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawn-typeerror.js
index 7b98cedf8ba117..a3ae3d36f5e80e 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawn-typeerror.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawn-typeerror.js
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ const cmd = common.isWindows ? 'rundll32' : 'ls';
 const invalidcmd = 'hopefully_you_dont_have_this_on_your_machine';
 const invalidArgsMsg = /Incorrect value of args option/;
 const invalidOptionsMsg = /"options" argument must be an object/;
+const invalidFileMsg =
+  /^TypeError: "file" argument must be a non-empty string$/;
 const empty = common.fixturesDir + '/empty.js';
 
 assert.throws(function() {
@@ -36,7 +38,16 @@ assert.doesNotThrow(function() {
 // verify that invalid argument combinations throw
 assert.throws(function() {
   spawn();
-}, /Bad argument/);
+}, invalidFileMsg);
+
+assert.throws(function() {
+  spawn('');
+}, invalidFileMsg);
+
+assert.throws(function() {
+  const file = { toString() { throw new Error('foo'); } };
+  spawn(file);
+}, invalidFileMsg);
 
 assert.throws(function() {
   spawn(cmd, null);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawnsync-validation-errors.js b/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawnsync-validation-errors.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e10137624863a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawnsync-validation-errors.js
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+'use strict';
+const common = require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const spawnSync = require('child_process').spawnSync;
+const noop = function() {};
+
+function pass(option, value) {
+  // Run the command with the specified option. Since it's not a real command,
+  // spawnSync() should run successfully but return an ENOENT error.
+  const child = spawnSync('not_a_real_command', { [option]: value });
+
+  assert.strictEqual(child.error.code, 'ENOENT');
+}
+
+function fail(option, value, message) {
+  assert.throws(() => {
+    spawnSync('not_a_real_command', { [option]: value });
+  }, message);
+}
+
+{
+  // Validate the cwd option
+  const err = /^TypeError: "cwd" must be a string$/;
+
+  pass('cwd', undefined);
+  pass('cwd', null);
+  pass('cwd', __dirname);
+  fail('cwd', 0, err);
+  fail('cwd', 1, err);
+  fail('cwd', true, err);
+  fail('cwd', false, err);
+  fail('cwd', [], err);
+  fail('cwd', {}, err);
+  fail('cwd', noop, err);
+}
+
+{
+  // Validate the detached option
+  const err = /^TypeError: "detached" must be a boolean$/;
+
+  pass('detached', undefined);
+  pass('detached', null);
+  pass('detached', true);
+  pass('detached', false);
+  fail('detached', 0, err);
+  fail('detached', 1, err);
+  fail('detached', __dirname, err);
+  fail('detached', [], err);
+  fail('detached', {}, err);
+  fail('detached', noop, err);
+}
+
+if (!common.isWindows) {
+  {
+    // Validate the uid option
+    if (process.getuid() !== 0) {
+      const err = /^TypeError: "uid" must be an integer$/;
+
+      pass('uid', undefined);
+      pass('uid', null);
+      pass('uid', process.getuid());
+      fail('uid', __dirname, err);
+      fail('uid', true, err);
+      fail('uid', false, err);
+      fail('uid', [], err);
+      fail('uid', {}, err);
+      fail('uid', noop, err);
+      fail('uid', NaN, err);
+      fail('uid', Infinity, err);
+      fail('uid', 3.1, err);
+      fail('uid', -3.1, err);
+    }
+  }
+
+  {
+    // Validate the gid option
+    if (process.getgid() !== 0) {
+      const err = /^TypeError: "gid" must be an integer$/;
+
+      pass('gid', undefined);
+      pass('gid', null);
+      pass('gid', process.getgid());
+      fail('gid', __dirname, err);
+      fail('gid', true, err);
+      fail('gid', false, err);
+      fail('gid', [], err);
+      fail('gid', {}, err);
+      fail('gid', noop, err);
+      fail('gid', NaN, err);
+      fail('gid', Infinity, err);
+      fail('gid', 3.1, err);
+      fail('gid', -3.1, err);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+{
+  // Validate the shell option
+  const err = /^TypeError: "shell" must be a boolean or string$/;
+
+  pass('shell', undefined);
+  pass('shell', null);
+  pass('shell', false);
+  fail('shell', 0, err);
+  fail('shell', 1, err);
+  fail('shell', [], err);
+  fail('shell', {}, err);
+  fail('shell', noop, err);
+}
+
+{
+  // Validate the argv0 option
+  const err = /^TypeError: "argv0" must be a string$/;
+
+  pass('argv0', undefined);
+  pass('argv0', null);
+  pass('argv0', 'myArgv0');
+  fail('argv0', 0, err);
+  fail('argv0', 1, err);
+  fail('argv0', true, err);
+  fail('argv0', false, err);
+  fail('argv0', [], err);
+  fail('argv0', {}, err);
+  fail('argv0', noop, err);
+}
+
+{
+  // Validate the windowsVerbatimArguments option
+  const err = /^TypeError: "windowsVerbatimArguments" must be a boolean$/;
+
+  pass('windowsVerbatimArguments', undefined);
+  pass('windowsVerbatimArguments', null);
+  pass('windowsVerbatimArguments', true);
+  pass('windowsVerbatimArguments', false);
+  fail('windowsVerbatimArguments', 0, err);
+  fail('windowsVerbatimArguments', 1, err);
+  fail('windowsVerbatimArguments', __dirname, err);
+  fail('windowsVerbatimArguments', [], err);
+  fail('windowsVerbatimArguments', {}, err);
+  fail('windowsVerbatimArguments', noop, err);
+}
+
+{
+  // Validate the timeout option
+  const err = /^TypeError: "timeout" must be an unsigned integer$/;
+
+  pass('timeout', undefined);
+  pass('timeout', null);
+  pass('timeout', 1);
+  pass('timeout', 0);
+  fail('timeout', -1, err);
+  fail('timeout', true, err);
+  fail('timeout', false, err);
+  fail('timeout', __dirname, err);
+  fail('timeout', [], err);
+  fail('timeout', {}, err);
+  fail('timeout', noop, err);
+  fail('timeout', NaN, err);
+  fail('timeout', Infinity, err);
+  fail('timeout', 3.1, err);
+  fail('timeout', -3.1, err);
+}
+
+{
+  // Validate the maxBuffer option
+  const err = /^TypeError: "maxBuffer" must be an unsigned integer$/;
+
+  pass('maxBuffer', undefined);
+  pass('maxBuffer', null);
+  pass('maxBuffer', 1);
+  pass('maxBuffer', 0);
+  fail('maxBuffer', 3.14, err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', -1, err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', NaN, err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', Infinity, err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', true, err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', false, err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', __dirname, err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', [], err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', {}, err);
+  fail('maxBuffer', noop, err);
+}
+
+{
+  // Validate the killSignal option
+  const typeErr = /^TypeError: "killSignal" must be a string or number$/;
+  const rangeErr = /^RangeError: "killSignal" cannot be 0$/;
+  const unknownSignalErr = /^Error: Unknown signal:/;
+
+  pass('killSignal', undefined);
+  pass('killSignal', null);
+  pass('killSignal', 'SIGKILL');
+  pass('killSignal', 500);
+  fail('killSignal', 0, rangeErr);
+  fail('killSignal', 'SIGNOTAVALIDSIGNALNAME', unknownSignalErr);
+  fail('killSignal', true, typeErr);
+  fail('killSignal', false, typeErr);
+  fail('killSignal', [], typeErr);
+  fail('killSignal', {}, typeErr);
+  fail('killSignal', noop, typeErr);
+}