diff --git a/swiftclient/service.py b/swiftclient/service.py
index a91c6050..4315295d 100644
--- a/swiftclient/service.py
+++ b/swiftclient/service.py
@@ -1177,6 +1177,12 @@ class SwiftService(object):
         else:
             options = self._options
 
+        try:
+            segment_size = int(0 if options['segment_size'] is None else
+                               options['segment_size'])
+        except ValueError:
+            raise SwiftError('Segment size should be an integer value')
+
         # Does the account exist?
         account_stat = self.stat(options=options)
         if not account_stat["success"]:
@@ -1204,7 +1210,7 @@ class SwiftService(object):
             res = r.result()
             yield res
 
-        if options['segment_size'] is not None:
+        if segment_size:
             seg_container = container + '_segments'
             if options['segment_container']:
                 seg_container = options['segment_container']
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_service.py b/tests/unit/test_service.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..53867ae7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_service.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2014 OpenStack Foundation
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import testtools
+
+from swiftclient.service import SwiftService, SwiftError
+
+
+class TestService(testtools.TestCase):
+
+    def test_upload_with_bad_segment_size(self):
+        for bad in ('ten', '1234X', '100.3'):
+            options = {'segment_size': bad}
+            try:
+                service = SwiftService(options)
+                next(service.upload('c', 'o'))
+                self.fail('Expected SwiftError when segment_size=%s' % bad)
+            except SwiftError as exc:
+                self.assertEqual('Segment size should be an integer value',
+                                 exc.value)