diff --git a/lib/cookie.js b/lib/cookie.js
index 559546b0..f6ba38fd 100644
--- a/lib/cookie.js
+++ b/lib/cookie.js
@@ -1166,7 +1166,10 @@ class CookieJar {
 
     // S5.3 step 5: public suffixes
     if (this.rejectPublicSuffixes && cookie.domain) {
-      const suffix = pubsuffix.getPublicSuffix(cookie.cdomain());
+      const suffix = pubsuffix.getPublicSuffix(cookie.cdomain(), {
+        allowSpecialUseDomain: this.allowSpecialUseDomain,
+        ignoreError: options.ignoreError
+      });
       if (suffix == null && !IP_V6_REGEX_OBJECT.test(cookie.domain)) {
         // e.g. "com"
         err = new Error("Cookie has domain set to a public suffix");
diff --git a/lib/permuteDomain.js b/lib/permuteDomain.js
index 90923bce..35ab0228 100644
--- a/lib/permuteDomain.js
+++ b/lib/permuteDomain.js
@@ -34,32 +34,10 @@ const pubsuffix = require("./pubsuffix-psl");
 // Gives the permutation of all possible domainMatch()es of a given domain. The
 // array is in shortest-to-longest order.  Handy for indexing.
 
-// RFC 6761
-const SPECIAL_USE_DOMAINS = [
-  "local",
-  "example",
-  "invalid",
-  "localhost",
-  "test"
-];
-
 function permuteDomain(domain, allowSpecialUseDomain) {
-  let pubSuf = null;
-  if (allowSpecialUseDomain) {
-    const domainParts = domain.split(".");
-    // If the right-most label in the name is a special-use domain (e.g. bananas.apple.localhost),
-    // then don't use PSL. This is because most special-use domains are not listed on PSL.
-    const topLevelDomain = domainParts[domainParts.length - 1];
-    if (SPECIAL_USE_DOMAINS.includes(topLevelDomain)) {
-      const secondLevelDomain = domainParts[domainParts.length - 2];
-      // In aforementioned example, the eTLD/pubSuf will be apple.localhost
-      pubSuf = `${secondLevelDomain}.${topLevelDomain}`;
-    } else {
-      pubSuf = pubsuffix.getPublicSuffix(domain);
-    }
-  } else {
-    pubSuf = pubsuffix.getPublicSuffix(domain);
-  }
+  const pubSuf = pubsuffix.getPublicSuffix(domain, {
+    allowSpecialUseDomain: allowSpecialUseDomain
+  });
 
   if (!pubSuf) {
     return null;
diff --git a/lib/pubsuffix-psl.js b/lib/pubsuffix-psl.js
index 93a8577c..d5555523 100644
--- a/lib/pubsuffix-psl.js
+++ b/lib/pubsuffix-psl.js
@@ -31,7 +31,39 @@
 "use strict";
 const psl = require("psl");
 
-function getPublicSuffix(domain) {
+// RFC 6761
+const SPECIAL_USE_DOMAINS = [
+  "local",
+  "example",
+  "invalid",
+  "localhost",
+  "test"
+];
+
+function getPublicSuffix(domain, options = {}) {
+  const domainParts = domain.split(".");
+  const topLevelDomain = domainParts[domainParts.length - 1];
+  const allowSpecialUseDomain = !!options.allowSpecialUseDomain;
+  const ignoreError = !!options.ignoreError;
+
+  if (
+    allowSpecialUseDomain &&
+    domainParts.length > 1 &&
+    SPECIAL_USE_DOMAINS.includes(topLevelDomain)
+  ) {
+    // If the right-most label in the name is a special-use domain (e.g. bananas.apple.localhost),
+    // then don't use PSL. This is because most special-use domains are not listed on PSL.
+    const secondLevelDomain = domainParts[domainParts.length - 2];
+    // In aforementioned example, the eTLD/pubSuf will be apple.localhost
+    return `${secondLevelDomain}.${topLevelDomain}`;
+  }
+
+  if (!ignoreError && SPECIAL_USE_DOMAINS.includes(topLevelDomain)) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Cookie has domain set to the public suffix "${topLevelDomain}" which is a special use domain. To allow this, configure your CookieJar with {allowSpecialUseDomain:true, rejectPublicSuffixes: false}.`
+    );
+  }
+
   return psl.get(domain);
 }
 
diff --git a/test/api_test.js b/test/api_test.js
index 461f4295..1144cf34 100644
--- a/test/api_test.js
+++ b/test/api_test.js
@@ -579,4 +579,86 @@ vows
       }
     }
   })
+  .addBatch(allowSpecialUseOptionVows())
   .export(module);
+
+function allowSpecialUseOptionVows() {
+  const specialUseDomains = [
+    "local",
+    "example",
+    "invalid",
+    "localhost",
+    "test"
+  ];
+
+  return specialUseDomains.reduce((vows, specialUseDomain) => {
+    vows[
+      `cookie jar with allowSpecialUseDomain enabled and domain is "${specialUseDomain}"`
+    ] = {
+      topic: function() {
+        const cb = this.callback;
+        const cj = new CookieJar(new tough.MemoryCookieStore(), {
+          rejectPublicSuffixes: true,
+          allowSpecialUseDomain: true
+        });
+        cj.setCookie(
+          `settingThisShouldPass=true; Domain=dev.${specialUseDomain}; Path=/;`,
+          `http://dev.${specialUseDomain}`,
+          at(-1),
+          (err, cookie) => {
+            cb(err, { cj: cj, cookie: cookie });
+          }
+        );
+      },
+      "set the cookie": function(t) {
+        assert.ok(t.cookie, "didn't set?!");
+        assert.equal(t.cookie.key, "settingThisShouldPass");
+      },
+      "then, retrieving": {
+        topic: function(t) {
+          const cb = this.callback;
+          setTimeout(() => {
+            t.cj.getCookies(
+              `http://dev.${specialUseDomain}`,
+              { http: true },
+              (err, cookies) => {
+                t.cookies = cookies;
+                cb(err, t);
+              }
+            );
+          }, 2000);
+        },
+        "got the cookie": function(t) {
+          assert.lengthOf(t.cookies, 1);
+          assert.equal(t.cookies[0].key, "settingThisShouldPass");
+        }
+      }
+    };
+
+    vows[
+      `cookie jar with allowSpecialUseDomain disabled and domain is "${specialUseDomain}"`
+    ] = {
+      topic: function() {
+        const cj = new CookieJar(new tough.MemoryCookieStore(), {
+          allowSpecialUseDomain: false,
+          rejectPublicSuffixes: true
+        });
+        cj.setCookie(
+          `settingThisShouldFail=true; Domain=dev.${specialUseDomain}; Path=/;`,
+          `http://dev.${specialUseDomain}`,
+          this.callback
+        );
+      },
+      errors: function(err, cookie) {
+        assert.ok(err);
+        assert.ok(!cookie);
+        assert.equal(
+          err.message,
+          `Cookie has domain set to the public suffix "${specialUseDomain}" which is a special use domain. To allow this, configure your CookieJar with {allowSpecialUseDomain:true, rejectPublicSuffixes: false}.`
+        );
+      }
+    };
+
+    return vows;
+  }, {});
+}