diff --git a/packages/speech/src/index.js b/packages/speech/src/index.js
index 790692d34f7..9421c5b635e 100644
--- a/packages/speech/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/speech/src/index.js
@@ -476,6 +476,10 @@ Speech.formatResults_ = function(resultSets, verboseMode) {
 Speech.prototype.createRecognizeStream = function(config) {
   var self = this;
 
+  if (!config) {
+    throw new Error('A recognize request requires a configuration object.');
+  }
+
   var verboseMode = config.verbose === true;
   delete config.verbose;
 
@@ -650,6 +654,10 @@ Speech.prototype.operation = function(name) {
 Speech.prototype.recognize = function(file, config, callback) {
   var self = this;
 
+  if (!is.object(config)) {
+    throw new Error('A recognize request requires a configuration object.');
+  }
+
   config = extend({}, config);
 
   if (!config.encoding) {
diff --git a/packages/speech/test/index.js b/packages/speech/test/index.js
index 19c7655fd4f..b16e3bf6ad2 100644
--- a/packages/speech/test/index.js
+++ b/packages/speech/test/index.js
@@ -458,6 +458,12 @@ describe('Speech', function() {
       };
     });
 
+    it('should throw if an object is not provided', function() {
+      assert.throws(function() {
+        speech.createRecognizeStream();
+      }, /A recognize request requires a configuration object\./);
+    });
+
     it('should make the correct request once writing started', function(done) {
       speech.api.Speech = {
         streamingRecognize: function() {
@@ -684,6 +690,12 @@ describe('Speech', function() {
       };
     });
 
+    it('should throw if an object is not provided', function() {
+      assert.throws(function() {
+        speech.recognize(FILE, assert.ifError);
+      }, /A recognize request requires a configuration object\./);
+    });
+
     it('should find the files', function(done) {
       Speech.findFile_ = function(file) {
         assert.strictEqual(file, FILE);