diff --git a/checker/provider.go b/checker/provider.go
index 2cf6a50..d66de34 100644
--- a/checker/provider.go
+++ b/checker/provider.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ package checker
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"net/mail"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	sdk "git.happydns.org/checker-sdk-go/checker"
@@ -21,6 +24,27 @@ func (p *happyDeliverProvider) Definition() *sdk.CheckerDefinition {
 	return Definition()
 }
 
+// ValidateOptions runs on the host before Collect so bad options are rejected
+// up-front rather than surfacing as a runtime SMTP failure.
+func (p *happyDeliverProvider) ValidateOptions(opts sdk.CheckerOptions) error {
+	raw, ok := opts["from_address"]
+	if !ok {
+		return nil
+	}
+	s, ok := raw.(string)
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("from_address must be a string")
+	}
+	s = strings.TrimSpace(s)
+	if s == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if _, err := mail.ParseAddress(s); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid from_address: %w", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (p *happyDeliverProvider) ExtractMetrics(ctx sdk.ReportContext, collectedAt time.Time) ([]sdk.CheckMetric, error) {
 	var data HappyDeliverData
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(ctx.Data(), &data); err != nil {