diff --git a/README.rdoc b/README.rdoc
index 7d516d7..649a545 100644
--- a/README.rdoc
+++ b/README.rdoc
@@ -63,8 +63,6 @@ See the git log comments.
 
 * More tests.
 
-* Implement the rest of the Admin interface.
-
 * Study src/main/ed/db/{dbcollection,dbcursor,db}.js and ByteEncoder.java in
   the Babble code. That's what I should be writing to.
 
diff --git a/lib/mongo/admin.rb b/lib/mongo/admin.rb
index 8f2e641..1ce950a 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/admin.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/admin.rb
@@ -69,8 +69,15 @@ module XGen
           @db.query(DB::SYSTEM_PROFILE_COLLECTION, Query.new({})).to_a
         end
 
-        # Validate a named collection.
+        # Validate a named collection by raising an exception if there is a
+        # problem or returning +true+ if all is well.
         def validate_collection(name)
+          doc = @db.db_command(:validate => name)
+          raise "Error with validate command: #{doc.inspect}" unless @db.ok?(doc)
+          result = doc['result']
+          raise "Error with validation data: #{doc.inspect}" unless result.kind_of?(String)
+          raise "Error: invalid collection #{name}: #{doc.inspect}" if result =~ /\b(exception|corrupt)\b/i
+          true
         end
 
       end
diff --git a/tests/test_admin.rb b/tests/test_admin.rb
index a16873b..f574744 100644
--- a/tests/test_admin.rb
+++ b/tests/test_admin.rb
@@ -53,4 +53,8 @@ class AdminTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     @admin.profiling_level = :off
   end
 
+  def test_validate_collection
+    assert @admin.validate_collection(@coll.name)
+  end
+
 end