diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index d5ceea1..519bff8 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #if defined(OROTOOL_WITH_RESTCCPP)
 #	include <restc-cpp/error.h>
 #endif
+#include <regex>
 
 namespace {
 	void print_ping(oro::Api& oro_api) {
@@ -67,6 +68,17 @@ namespace {
 		constexpr const auto us = dhandy::bt::make_string("_");
 		return (name + us + app_version());
 	}
+
+	void validate_key(std::string_view key) {
+		using std::string;
+		using std::logic_error;
+
+		std::regex key_reg("^[a-z0-9]{32}$");
+		if (not std::regex_match(key.begin(), key.end(), key_reg))
+			throw logic_error("API key \"" + string(key) + "\" doesn't look valid");
+
+		return;
+	}
 } //unnamed namespace
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
@@ -81,6 +93,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 		);
 
 		print_ping(*oro_api);
+		validate_key(app_conf.api_key());
 
 		std::unique_ptr<oro::OriginsDB> db(oro::OriginsDB::make(app_conf.backend(), app_conf.db_path()));