diff --git a/src/chttpd.erl b/src/chttpd.erl
index 89498c0..76eb7c3 100644
--- a/src/chttpd.erl
+++ b/src/chttpd.erl
@@ -891,6 +891,8 @@
     {412, <<"missing_stub">>, Reason};
 error_info(request_entity_too_large) ->
     {413, <<"too_large">>, <<"the request entity is too large">>};
+error_info({request_entity_too_large, DocID}) ->
+    {413, <<"document_too_large">>, DocID};
 error_info({error, security_migration_updates_disabled}) ->
     {503, <<"security_migration">>, <<"Updates to security docs are disabled during "
         "security migration.">>};
diff --git a/src/chttpd_db.erl b/src/chttpd_db.erl
index bb08db6..37e4669 100644
--- a/src/chttpd_db.erl
+++ b/src/chttpd_db.erl
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@
     W = chttpd:qs_value(Req, "w", integer_to_list(mem3:quorum(Db))),
     Options = [{user_ctx,Ctx}, {w,W}],
 
-    Doc = couch_doc:from_json_obj(chttpd:json_body(Req)),
+    Doc = couch_doc:from_json_obj_validate(chttpd:json_body(Req)),
     Doc2 = case Doc#doc.id of
         <<"">> ->
             Doc#doc{id=couch_uuids:new(), revs={0, []}};
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@
     true ->
         Docs = lists:map(
             fun(JsonObj) ->
-                Doc = couch_doc:from_json_obj(JsonObj),
+                Doc = couch_doc:from_json_obj_validate(JsonObj),
                 validate_attachment_names(Doc),
                 Id = case Doc#doc.id of
                     <<>> -> couch_uuids:new();
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@
             send_json(Req, 417, ErrorsJson)
         end;
     false ->
-        Docs = [couch_doc:from_json_obj(JsonObj) || JsonObj <- DocsArray],
+        Docs = [couch_doc:from_json_obj_validate(JsonObj) || JsonObj <- DocsArray],
         [validate_attachment_names(D) || D <- Docs],
         case fabric:update_docs(Db, Docs, [replicated_changes|Options]) of
         {ok, Errors} ->
@@ -1050,7 +1050,7 @@
     end,
     Doc#doc{id=DocId, revs=Revs2};
 couch_doc_from_req(Req, DocId, Json) ->
-    couch_doc_from_req(Req, DocId, couch_doc:from_json_obj(Json)).
+    couch_doc_from_req(Req, DocId, couch_doc:from_json_obj_validate(Json)).
 
 
 % Useful for debugging
diff --git a/src/chttpd_show.erl b/src/chttpd_show.erl
index bbe51b2..49fed7b 100644
--- a/src/chttpd_show.erl
+++ b/src/chttpd_show.erl
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@
             _ ->
                 Options = [{user_ctx, Req#httpd.user_ctx}, {w, W}]
             end,
-            NewDoc = couch_doc:from_json_obj({NewJsonDoc}),
+            NewDoc = couch_doc:from_json_obj_validate({NewJsonDoc}),
             couch_doc:validate_docid(NewDoc#doc.id),
             {UpdateResult, NewRev} = fabric:update_doc(Db, NewDoc, Options),
             NewRevStr = couch_doc:rev_to_str(NewRev),
diff --git a/test/chttpd_db_doc_size_tests.erl b/test/chttpd_db_doc_size_tests.erl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d2a993e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/chttpd_db_doc_size_tests.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+% 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.
+
+-module(chttpd_db_doc_size_tests).
+
+-include_lib("couch/include/couch_eunit.hrl").
+-include_lib("couch/include/couch_db.hrl").
+
+-define(USER, "chttpd_db_test_admin").
+-define(PASS, "pass").
+-define(AUTH, {basic_auth, {?USER, ?PASS}}).
+-define(CONTENT_JSON, {"Content-Type", "application/json"}).
+-define(CONTENT_MULTI_RELATED, {"Content-Type",
+    "multipart/related;boundary=\"bound\""}).
+-define(CONTENT_MULTI_FORM, {"Content-Type",
+    "multipart/form-data;boundary=\"bound\""}).
+
+
+setup() ->
+    ok = config:set("admins", ?USER, ?PASS, _Persist=false),
+    ok = config:set("couchdb", "max_document_size", "50"),
+    TmpDb = ?tempdb(),
+    Addr = config:get("chttpd", "bind_address", "127.0.0.1"),
+    Port = mochiweb_socket_server:get(chttpd, port),
+    Url = lists:concat(["http://", Addr, ":", Port, "/", ?b2l(TmpDb)]),
+    create_db(Url),
+    Url.
+
+teardown(Url) ->
+    delete_db(Url),
+    ok = config:delete("admins", ?USER, _Persist=false),
+    ok = config:delete("couchdb", "max_document_size").
+
+create_db(Url) ->
+    {ok, Status, _, _} = test_request:put(Url, [?CONTENT_JSON, ?AUTH], "{}"),
+    ?assert(Status =:= 201 orelse Status =:= 202).
+
+delete_db(Url) ->
+    {ok, 200, _, _} = test_request:delete(Url, [?AUTH]).
+
+all_test_() ->
+    {
+        "chttpd db max_document_size tests",
+        {
+            setup,
+            fun chttpd_test_util:start_couch/0, fun chttpd_test_util:stop_couch/1,
+            {
+                foreach,
+                fun setup/0, fun teardown/1,
+                [
+                    fun post_single_doc/1,
+                    fun put_single_doc/1,
+                    fun bulk_doc/1,
+                    fun put_post_doc_attach_inline/1,
+                    fun put_multi_part_related/1,
+                    fun post_multi_part_form/1
+                ]
+            }
+        }
+    }.
+
+post_single_doc(Url) ->
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"error">>, <<"document_too_large">>},
+        begin
+            NewDoc = "{\"post_single_doc\": \"some_doc\",
+                \"_id\": \"testdoc\", \"should_be\" : \"too_large\"}",
+            {ok, _, _, ResultBody} = test_request:post(Url,
+                [?CONTENT_JSON, ?AUTH], NewDoc),
+            {ErrorMsg} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody),
+            lists:nth(1, ErrorMsg)
+        end).
+
+put_single_doc(Url) ->
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"error">>, <<"document_too_large">>},
+        begin
+            NewDoc = "{\"post_single_doc\": \"some_doc\",
+                \"_id\": \"testdoc\", \"should_be\" : \"too_large\"}",
+            {ok, _, _, ResultBody} = test_request:put(Url ++ "/" ++ "testid",
+                [?CONTENT_JSON, ?AUTH], NewDoc),
+            {ErrorMsg} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody),
+            lists:nth(1, ErrorMsg)
+        end).
+
+bulk_doc(Url) ->
+    NewDoc = "{\"docs\": [{\"doc1\": 1}, {\"errordoc\":
+        \"this_should_be_the_error_document\"}]}",
+    {ok, _, _, ResultBody} = test_request:post(Url ++ "/_bulk_docs/",
+        [?CONTENT_JSON, ?AUTH], NewDoc),
+    ResultJson = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody),
+    Expect = {[{<<"error">>,<<"document_too_large">>},{<<"reason">>,<<>>}]},
+    ?_assertEqual(Expect, ResultJson).
+
+put_post_doc_attach_inline(Url) ->
+    Body1 = "{\"body\":\"This is a body.\",",
+    Body2 = lists:concat(["{\"body\":\"This is a body it should fail",
+        "because there are too many characters.\","]),
+    DocRest =  lists:concat(["\"_attachments\":{\"foo.txt\":{",
+        "\"content_type\":\"text/plain\",",
+        "\"data\": \"VGhpcyBpcyBhIGJhc2U2NCBlbmNvZGVkIHRleHQ=\"}}}"]),
+    Doc1 = lists:concat([Body1, DocRest]),
+    Doc2 = lists:concat([Body2, DocRest]),
+
+    {ok, _, _, ResultBody} = test_request:post(Url,
+        [?CONTENT_JSON, ?AUTH], Doc1),
+    {Msg} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody),
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"ok">>, true}, lists:nth(1, Msg)),
+       {ok, _, _, ResultBody1} = test_request:post(Url,
+        [?CONTENT_JSON, ?AUTH], Doc2),
+    {Msg1} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody1),
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"error">>, <<"document_too_large">>}, lists:nth(1, Msg1)),
+
+    {ok, _, _, ResultBody2} = test_request:put(Url ++ "/" ++ "accept",
+        [?CONTENT_JSON, ?AUTH], Doc1),
+    {Msg2} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody2),
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"ok">>, true}, lists:nth(1, Msg2)),
+    {ok, _, _, ResultBody3} = test_request:put(Url ++ "/" ++ "fail",
+        [?CONTENT_JSON, ?AUTH], Doc2),
+    {Msg3} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody3),
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"error">>, <<"document_too_large">>}, lists:nth(1, Msg3)).
+
+put_multi_part_related(Url) ->
+    Body1 = "{\"body\":\"This is a body.\",",
+    Body2 = lists:concat(["{\"body\":\"This is a body it should fail",
+        "because there are too many characters.\","]),
+    DocBeg = "--bound\r\nContent-Type: application/json\r\n\r\n",
+    DocRest =  lists:concat(["\"_attachments\":{\"foo.txt\":{\"follows\":true,",
+        "\"content_type\":\"text/plain\",\"length\":21},\"bar.txt\":",
+        "{\"follows\":true,\"content_type\":\"text/plain\",",
+        "\"length\":20}}}\r\n--bound\r\n\r\nthis is 21 chars long",
+        "\r\n--bound\r\n\r\nthis is 20 chars lon\r\n--bound--epilogue"]),
+    Doc1 = lists:concat([DocBeg, Body1, DocRest]),
+    Doc2 = lists:concat([DocBeg, Body2, DocRest]),
+    {ok, _, _, ResultBody} = test_request:put(Url ++ "/" ++ "accept",
+        [?CONTENT_MULTI_RELATED, ?AUTH], Doc1),
+    {Msg} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody),
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"ok">>, true}, lists:nth(1, Msg)),
+       {ok, _, _, ResultBody1} = test_request:put(Url ++ "/" ++ "faildoc",
+        [?CONTENT_MULTI_RELATED, ?AUTH], Doc2),
+    {Msg1} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody1),
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"error">>, <<"document_too_large">>}, lists:nth(1, Msg1)).
+
+post_multi_part_form(Url) ->
+    Port = mochiweb_socket_server:get(chttpd, port),
+    Host = lists:concat([ "http://127.0.0.1:", Port]),
+    Referer = {"Referer", Host},
+    Body1 = "{\"body\":\"This is a body.\"}",
+    Body2 = lists:concat(["{\"body\":\"This is a body it should fail",
+        "because there are too many characters.\"}"]),
+    DocBeg = "--bound\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name=\"_doc\"\r\n\r\n",
+    DocRest = lists:concat(["\r\n--bound\r\nContent-Disposition:",
+        "form-data; name=\"_attachments\"; filename=\"file.txt\"\r\n",
+        "Content-Type: text/plain\r\n\r\ncontents of file.txt\r\n\r\n",
+        "--bound--"]),
+    Doc1 = lists:concat([DocBeg, Body1, DocRest]),
+    Doc2 = lists:concat([DocBeg, Body2, DocRest]),
+    {ok, _, _, ResultBody} = test_request:post(Url ++ "/" ++ "accept",
+        [?CONTENT_MULTI_FORM, ?AUTH, Referer], Doc1),
+    {Msg} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody),
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"ok">>, true}, lists:nth(1, Msg)),
+    {ok, _, _, ResultBody1} = test_request:post(Url ++ "/" ++ "fail",
+        [?CONTENT_MULTI_FORM, ?AUTH, Referer], Doc2),
+    {Msg1} = ?JSON_DECODE(ResultBody1),
+    ?_assertEqual({<<"error">>, <<"document_too_large">>}, lists:nth(1, Msg1)).
+