diff --git a/lib/node.js b/lib/node.js
index f9b0f21e..48e5f022 100644
--- a/lib/node.js
+++ b/lib/node.js
@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@ Node.prototype._loadBitcoinConf = function(config) {
     }
   }
 
+  $.checkState((this.bitcoinConfiguration.txindex && this.bitcoinConfiguration.txindex == 1), 
+  'Txindex option is required in order to use most of the features of bitcore-node. \
+Please add "txindex=1" to your configuration and reindex an existing database if necessary with reindex=1');
 };
 
 Node.prototype._loadBitcoind = function(config) {
diff --git a/test/data/badbitcoin.conf b/test/data/badbitcoin.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c69affa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/badbitcoin.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#testnet=1
+#irc=0
+#upnp=0
+server=1
+
+whitelist=127.0.0.1
+
+# listen on different ports
+port=20000
+
+rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
+
+rpcuser=bitcoin
+rpcpassword=local321
+
+
diff --git a/test/node.unit.js b/test/node.unit.js
index c6516b50..b6de7661 100644
--- a/test/node.unit.js
+++ b/test/node.unit.js
@@ -22,6 +22,13 @@ BaseNode.prototype._loadConfiguration = sinon.spy();
 BaseNode.prototype._initialize = sinon.spy();
 chainlib.Node = BaseNode;
 
+var BadNode = proxyquire('../lib/node', {
+  chainlib: chainlib,
+  fs: {
+    readFileSync: sinon.stub().returns(fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/data/badbitcoin.conf'))
+  }
+});
+
 var Node = proxyquire('../lib/node', {
   chainlib: chainlib,
   fs: {
@@ -117,6 +124,12 @@ describe('Bitcoind Node', function() {
       node._loadBitcoind({datadir: './test', testnet: true});
       should.exist(node.bitcoind);
     });
+    it('should throw an exception if txindex isn\'t enabled in the configuration', function() {
+      var node = new BadNode({});
+      (function() {
+        node._loadBitcoinConf({datadir: './test'});
+      }).should.throw('Txindex option');
+    });
   });
   describe('#_syncBitcoindAncestor', function() {
     it('will find an ancestor 6 deep', function() {