diff --git a/config/clamav.php b/config/clamav.php
index 3e42bb8..3d98e75 100644
--- a/config/clamav.php
+++ b/config/clamav.php
@@ -38,6 +38,16 @@
     */
     'socket_read_timeout' => env('CLAMAV_SOCKET_READ_TIMEOUT', 30),
 
+    /*
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    | Throw exceptions instead of returning failures when scan fails.
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    | This makes it easier for a developer to find the source of a clamav
+    | failure, but an end user may only see a 500 error for the user
+    | if exceptions are not displayed.
+    */
+    'client_exceptions' => env('CLAMAV_CLIENT_EXCEPTIONS', false),
+
     /*
     |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
     | Skip validation
diff --git a/src/ClamavValidator/ClamavValidator.php b/src/ClamavValidator/ClamavValidator.php
index d982e3e..7193705 100755
--- a/src/ClamavValidator/ClamavValidator.php
+++ b/src/ClamavValidator/ClamavValidator.php
@@ -80,11 +80,17 @@ protected function validateFileWithClamAv($value)
             $scanner = $this->createQuahogScannerClient($socket);
             $result  = $scanner->scanResourceStream(fopen($file, 'rb'));
         } catch (\Exception $exception) {
-            throw ClamavValidatorException::forClientException($exception);
+            if (Config::get('clamav.client_exceptions')) {
+                throw ClamavValidatorException::forClientException($exception);
+            }
+            return false;
         }
 
         if (QuahogClient::RESULT_ERROR === $result['status']) {
-            throw ClamavValidatorException::forScanResult($result);
+            if (Config::get('clamav.client_exceptions')) {
+                throw ClamavValidatorException::forScanResult($result);
+            }
+            return false;
         }
 
         // Check if scan result is clean