diff --git a/core/roscpp/include/ros/forwards.h b/core/roscpp/include/ros/forwards.h
index 6848989b..c5e1c01e 100644
--- a/core/roscpp/include/ros/forwards.h
+++ b/core/roscpp/include/ros/forwards.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <map>
 #include <set>
 #include <list>
+#include <stdexcept>
 
 #include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
 #include <boost/weak_ptr.hpp>
@@ -163,6 +164,14 @@ typedef boost::shared_ptr<XMLRPCManager> XMLRPCManagerPtr;
 class PollManager;
 typedef boost::shared_ptr<PollManager> PollManagerPtr;
 
+class Exception : public std::runtime_error
+{
+public:
+  Exception(const std::string& what)
+  : std::runtime_error(what)
+  {}
+};
+
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/core/roscpp/include/ros/this_node.h b/core/roscpp/include/ros/this_node.h
index f39bb447..7d5ba82e 100644
--- a/core/roscpp/include/ros/this_node.h
+++ b/core/roscpp/include/ros/this_node.h
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@
 namespace ros
 {
 
+class InvalidNodeNameException : public ros::Exception
+{
+public:
+  InvalidNodeNameException(const std::string& name, const std::string& reason)
+  : Exception("Invalid node name [" + name + "]: " + reason)
+  {}
+};
+
 /**
  * \brief Contains functions which provide information about this process' ROS node
  */
diff --git a/core/roscpp/src/libros/this_node.cpp b/core/roscpp/src/libros/this_node.cpp
index 4d6df5ef..c003bbe1 100644
--- a/core/roscpp/src/libros/this_node.cpp
+++ b/core/roscpp/src/libros/this_node.cpp
@@ -98,6 +98,11 @@ void init(const std::string& name, const M_string& remappings, uint32_t options)
   // It must be done before we resolve g_name, because otherwise the name will not get remapped.
   names::init(remappings);
 
+  if (g_name.find("/") != std::string::npos)
+  {
+    throw InvalidNodeNameException(g_name, "node names cannot contain /");
+  }
+
   g_name = names::resolve(g_namespace, g_name);
 
   if (options & init_options::AnonymousName && !disable_anon)