diff --git a/lib/rabl/partials.rb b/lib/rabl/partials.rb
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/lib/rabl/partials.rb
+++ b/lib/rabl/partials.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ module Rabl
     # options must have :object
     # options can have :view_path, :child_root, :root
     def partial(file, options={}, &block)
+      raise ArgumentError, "Must provide an :object option to render a partial" unless options[:object]
       object, view_path = options.delete(:object), options.delete(:view_path)
       source, location = self.fetch_source(file, :view_path => view_path)
       engine_options = options.merge(:source => source, :source_location => location)
[partials] Raise an error when no object is passed to partial