diff --git a/detector.go b/detector.go
index b6a92a7..c8c875f 100644
--- a/detector.go
+++ b/detector.go
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ import (
 
 // Config defines the behaviour of the detector
 type Config struct {
-	Denylist  []string `json:"deny"`
-	Allowlist []string `json:"allow"`
-	Patterns  []string `json:"patterns"`
-	CacheSize int      `json:"cache_size"`
+	Denylist      []string `json:"deny"`
+	Allowlist     []string `json:"allow"`
+	Patterns      []string `json:"patterns"`
+	CacheSize     int      `json:"cache_size"`
+	RejectIfEmpty bool     `json:"empty_user_agent_is_bot"`
 }
 
 // DetectorFunc is a func that chek if a request was made by a bot
@@ -48,17 +49,19 @@ func NewDetector(cfg Config) (*Detector, error) {
 		patterns[i] = rp
 	}
 	return &Detector{
-		deny:     deny,
-		allow:    allow,
-		patterns: patterns,
+		deny:          deny,
+		allow:         allow,
+		patterns:      patterns,
+		rejectIfEmpty: cfg.RejectIfEmpty,
 	}, nil
 }
 
 // Detector is a struct able to detect bot-made requests
 type Detector struct {
-	deny     map[string]struct{}
-	allow    map[string]struct{}
-	patterns []*regexp.Regexp
+	deny          map[string]struct{}
+	allow         map[string]struct{}
+	patterns      []*regexp.Regexp
+	rejectIfEmpty bool
 }
 
 // IsBot returns true if the request was made by a bot
@@ -66,7 +69,7 @@ func (d *Detector) IsBot(r *http.Request) bool {
 	userAgent := r.Header.Get("User-Agent")
 
 	if userAgent == "" {
-		return false
+		return d.rejectIfEmpty
 	}
 	if _, ok := d.allow[userAgent]; ok {
 		return false
diff --git a/detector_test.go b/detector_test.go
index 4d5df27..6c735ae 100644
--- a/detector_test.go
+++ b/detector_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,28 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 )
 
+func TestNew_rejectEmptyHeader(t *testing.T) {
+	d, err := New(Config{
+		Denylist:  []string{"a", "b"},
+		Allowlist: []string{"c", "Pingdom.com_bot_version_1.1"},
+		Patterns: []string{
+			`(Pingdom.com_bot_version_)(\d+)\.(\d+)`,
+			`(facebookexternalhit)/(\d+)\.(\d+)`,
+		},
+		RejectIfEmpty: true,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com", http.NoBody)
+	req.Header.Add("User-Agent", "")
+	if !d(req) {
+		t.Error("req with empty User-Agent has not been detected as a bot")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestNew_noLRU(t *testing.T) {
 	d, err := New(Config{
 		Denylist:  []string{"a", "b"},
@@ -52,7 +74,7 @@ func testDetection(f DetectorFunc) error {
 		"c",
 		"Pingdom.com_bot_version_1.1",
 	} {
-		req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com", nil)
+		req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com", http.NoBody)
 		req.Header.Add("User-Agent", ua)
 		if f(req) {
 			return fmt.Errorf("the req #%d has been detected as a bot: %s", i, ua)
@@ -65,7 +87,7 @@ func testDetection(f DetectorFunc) error {
 		"facebookexternalhit/1.1",
 		"Pingdom.com_bot_version_1.2",
 	} {
-		req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com", nil)
+		req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com", http.NoBody)
 		req.Header.Add("User-Agent", ua)
 		if !f(req) {
 			return fmt.Errorf("the req #%d has not been detected as a bot: %s", i, ua)